LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. 

Shelf S$M€^ 



UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 



CCT 1 1886 



THE 

STpEK FAMILY 

IN THE 

LUTHERAN CHURCH: 

OB 

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES 



REY. CHARLES AITQUSTUS GOTTLIEB STORK, 

REV. THEOPHILUS STORK, D. D., AND 

REV. CHARLES A. STORK, D. D. 



BY 

JOHN GrTVIGRRlS, D. D., LL.D., 

AUTHOR OF "FIFTY TEARS IN THE LUTHERAN MINISTRY," "JOURNEYS OF 
LUTHER," '' LUTHER AT COBURG," ETC., ETC. 



/- 



J 



PHILADELPHIA : 
LUTHERAN PUBLICATION SOCIETY. 



o^ 







COPYRTGnT. 1886. 
BY THE 

LrTHP:RAX PUBLICATION SOCIETY 



/i-sL^l-i^ 



PEEFACE 



THIS volume is the first contribution to the series of 
biographies of some deceased ministers, which the 
Board of Publication has resolved to issue. It is singu- 
lar in one respect, that it embraces the sketches of three 
men of the same name, and bearing to each other the 
near relations of grandfather, son and grandson. There 
are similar kinships in a few of the families of our min- 
isters, but as the grandsons are still living, it is not likely 
that for years there will be another book published in 
which the lives of all three shall be narrated. 

The writer of the present volume regrets that he was 
limited to so small a space for the full exhibition of the 
lives of these three most worthy men. He was com- 
pelled reluctantly to omit much that would have more 
fully illustrated their characters, but as a considerable 
portion of the writings of two of them has been published 
in books, reviews, magazines and church papers, he was 
not permitted by the committee of the Board to intro- 
duce any of them, even extracts, into their biographies. 

The writer has availed himself of the help generously 
(3) 



4 PREFACE. 

furnished by relatives and friends ; but much of it he was 
obliged to lay aside for fear of enlarging the book beyond 
the prescribed limits. 

It is hoped that other volumes, which have been as- 
signed to competent writers, will rapidly follow this fore- 
runner of the series. 

J. G. M. 



CONTENTS. 



PAOB 

Charles Augustus Gottlieb Stork, 7 

Theophilus Stork, D. D., 29 

Charles A. Stork, D. D., 128 

1* 



PUBLISHEES' NOTE. 



The publishers very much regret that they are unable to give 
the likeness of Rev. Charles Augustus Gottlieb Stork, on 
the Frontispiece, with those of Rev. Theophilus Stork, D.D., 
and Rev. Charles A. Stork, D. D. 

A diligent inquiry among his descendants failed to find a 
daguerreotype or photograph of him. He lived in an age when 
" likenesses " were not as common as they have since become. 



CHARLES AUGUSTUS GOTTLIEB STORK. 



CHAPTER I. 

BIRTH — rARENTAGE — SCHOOL AND UNIYEKSITY LIFE — 
MINISTRY. 

WHEN the intelligent son of a venerated father, 
after a visit to the scenes of his birth and boyhood 
a few years subsequent to his father's death, says, " I 
was unable to secure a single book or manuscript, or even 
an autograph, and I am left without the simplest relic of 
my father," the biographer is compelled to depend ex- 
clusively upon tradition for facts, the reports of cotem- 
poraries, which are often exaggerated or perverted, the 
records of the churches which he served, the proceedings 
of the synod of which he was a member, or it may be 
some fragmentary document from the hand of the subject 
of his memoir, which has escaped the destruction of all his 
other writings. 

This unfortunately is the case with the subject of this 
brief biography. There is nothing extant from his own 
hand relating to his life, except an imperfect manuscript 
detailing some incidents of his career, most of which are 
included in Dr. Bernheim's book on the German Settle- 
ments and the Lutherans in the Carolinas. All my infor- 

(') 



8 THE STORK FAMILY IN THE LUTHERAN CHURCH. 

mation is derived from this admirable work, from Pro- 
fessor Stoever's Sketch in the Evangelical Review, Vol. 
viii,pp. 398-104, Sprague's Annals of the American Luth- 
eran Pulpit, New York, 1869, which is almost entirely 
a reproduction of Professor Stoever's article. Besides 
these, I have some letters of gentlemen who knew 
Mr. Stork, or who lived within the limits of his pastoral 
district, and have known his character from report. All 
these combined furnish scant material for an extended 
biography, but we may be sure of their authenticity. 

According to his own manuscript journal, quoted by 
the Evangelical Review, Vol. viii. pp. 308-404, and by 
Bernheim (p. 312), Charles Augustus Gottlieb Stork 
(originally Storcli), was born in lielmstsedt. Duchy of 
Brunswick, on June 16th, 1764. His father's name was 
George Friederich Storch, a merchant in that city, and 
his mother's name was Von Asseburg. The father 
afforded the son all the best educational advantages of 
the day. Helmstgedt being a university town, furnished 
the best possible opportunities of instruction, and it was 
no doubt owing in great part to his early training, that 
he subsequently attained to such high proficiency as a 
linguist and theologian, which is attributed to him by all 
who knew him. 

The pious parents were solicitous not only for the in- 
tellectual education of their son, but more especially for 
his religious culture. They lived in the time when the 
influences of Spener and Francke and their school of piet- 
ism flourished in its original purity, and their godly 
lives were conformed to the genuine gospel standard. 



CHARLES AUGUSTUS GOTTLIEB STORK. 9 

No wonder that under such parental teaching and pious 
example, their cherished son at • an early period became 
deeply impressed with religious truth. The devoted 
pastor and professor of theology in the university, Rev. 
Mr. Velthusen, had special charge of the boy in his cat- 
echetical class, and at the age of fifteen he was confirmed, 
agreeably to the custom at that time universally preva- 
lent in the Lutheran Church. This Avas in 1779. 

About this time he was promoted from the parish 
school to a place in the high school, where he remained 
as a pupil for three years. At the end of that time. 
Professor Windeberg, the director of that institution, 
pronounced him fully qualified for admission into the 
university, which he entered in 1782. In his fragment- 
ary journal as quoted by Bernheim, p. 312, he speaks 
of " having devoted himself three years to theological 
sciences," which shows that he had previously deter- 
mined to serve God in the ministry. 

Many of the most promising young men of those days, 
and also of the present, after having finished their uni- 
versity course, and having no other position as preachers 
or teachers, eagerly accept places as private tutors in re- 
spectable and wealthy families, until they are advanced 
to more lucrative positions. Indeed, many of these poor 
young men continue to serve in that capacity for years 
because they find no other means of support. Hence, 
not a few of them cease to be young men before they are 
appointed as pastors or professors, or secure other em- 
ployment. 

In 1785, young Stork was recommended by Rev. 



10 THE STORK FAMILY IN THE LUTHERAN CHURCH. 

Velthusen to the tutorship of a young nobleman, Von 
Hadenberg, whom he taught for a year until his removal 
from Helmstaedt, " whereupon," says the journal, " I be- 
came the teacher of Mr. Friese's children, a merchant 
near Bremen." Here he remained two years. 

We know nothing whatever of his life during his schol- 
astic and university career, and must be content with the 
bare outline presented above. 

A number of pious young ministers of the Spener- 
Francke school of Lutheranism had come over to this 
country as missionaries as early as 1733. The mission- 
ary spirit is the natural outgrowth of the revival of true 
religion. 

In that day, the personal sacrifice of a voyage to 
America and of mission labors among the scattered Ger- 
mans here, and the discomforts and perils of the enter- 
prise, were far greater than a similar expedition to India 
or to the Sandwich Islands at the present time. The 
vigorous faith, Christian heroism, holy zeal and self- 
denying efforts which characterized our earlier ministers 
from Germany are deserving of all gratitude and admi- 
ration. No one can read the narrative of their toils, or 
contemplate the character of their piety, without instruc- 
tion and profit. They were indeed devoted men, whose 
precious memory will be cherished by the pious through- 
out all time. 

Young Stork, in his journal, as quoted by Bernheim, 
further says, " Having remained there (at Mr. Friese's) 
two years, I received the call and order from Rev. Velt- 
husen to go as pastor to North Carolina ; whereupon I 



CHARLES AUGUSTUS GOTTLIEB STORK. 11 

was examined and ordained to the ministry and journeyed 
in May, 1788, from Germany, and arrived in America 
(Baltimore) about the end of June of the same year." 

A petition from a number of members of the Lutheran 
Church in North Carolina had been received, accom- 
panied by a communication from the Rev. Adolphus 
Nussman, who had been sent as a missionary to this 
country in 1733, and who had, for several years, been 
laboring in great poverty, earnestly imploring that addi- 
tional help might be furnished to relieve the prevailing 
spiritual destitution. The request was forwarded to 
Rev. Velthusen, and his attention was immediately di- 
rected to Mr. Stork as a person eminently fitted to 
engage in such an enterprise. The young man, after due 
reflection, expressed a willingness to go, and at once 
made arrangements for his departure, at the same time 
receiving from his Sovereign a written assurance that if, 
for any reason, he might choose to return, he should still 
retain his claim to promotion in the fatherland. Young 
candidates for the pastoral ofiice at that day received 
appointments to parishes only when vacancies were made 
by death or promotion, and then only, in most cases, in 
proportion to their time of service as teachers or vicars ; 
but they lost this privilege by voluntary expatriation, and 
hence our young candidate judiciously secured himself 
against the forfeiture of this claim. 

As a candidate for the sacred office he was then ex- 
amined by order of the Duke, who was of course the civil 
head of the Church as well as of the Duchy. This ex- 
amination was conducted by five professors, who it is fair 



12 THE STORK FAMILY IN THE LUTHERAN CHURCH. 

to presume were somewhat more rigid and thorough than 
our examiners are of the present day. 

He passed the ordeal creditably, which, as Velthusen 
says, was conducted in the strictest manner, and was or- 
dained as a minister to North Carolina by his pastor, 
Velthusen, who had all along been his kind friend and 
generous benefactor. Thus, he was selected for this 
field as a minister before he was ordained or even ex- 
amined. The practice of the Church in some, if not in 
all the Provinces and States of Germany, was not to or- 
dain a man who had not received a call to some specific 
field of labor, and I think this would be found to be the 
Apostolic practice. Our custom in this country is some- 
what different. Most of our Synods license candidates 
to preach and perform all the ministerial functions, and 
subsequent ordination confers no additional power, only 
entitling the candidate to a few unimportant additional 
privileges, and hence it is an empty ceremony. The 
Liceyise system was introduced into our Synods by these 
very fathers, who were trained under a system entirely 
different at home, but it was adopted here as a safeguard 
against the ordination of men of doubtful character or 
qualification in the early period of the Church in this 
country, but I think that danger need be no longer 
apprehended. 

As has been stated, he arrived in Baltimore on June 
27, 1788, and received from the brethren there a most 
cordial welcome. This must have been during the pas- 
torship of Rev. Gotlieb Gerock, in Baltimore, but his 
name is not mentioned in Mr. Stork's report. 



CHAELES AUGUSTUS GOTTLIEB STORK. 13 

He remained in Baltimore about six weeks, and then 
he passed on towards his future field of labor. He 
traveled to Charleston by sea, and there purchased a 
horse, and, by an inland route, reached Pastor Nuss- 
man's residence in North Carolina in the month of Sep- 
tember. 

Mr. Stork, immediately after his arrival, was elected 
pastor of three congregations — one in Salisbury, where 
he took up his abode, and the others known by the name 
of the Organ Church, where he commenced his labors 
on October 26, 1788, and the Pine Church. He also 
soon commenced regular service in what was called the 
Irish Settlement. As the years passed on, he established 
other congregations in Rowan, Lincoln, and Cabarrus 
counties. Here he spent his days in a constant routine 
of most diligent and self-denying labor. He was repeat- 
edly invited to occupy other fields, and some of them 
among the most eligible within the bounds of the denom- 
ination ; but he declined them all, in view of the great 
want of ministers in the region in which he had planted 
himself. He lived in Salisbury seventeen years, and 
was privileged to witness the most gratifying results from 
his labors. During the first two years of his residence 
in this place, he was domesticated in the house of Louis 
Beard, whose daughter, Christina, he married on the 14th 
of January, 1T90. They had eleven children, not one 
of whom is now living. 

Once during his pastoral life he made a visit to the 
North, which in those days was a long and wearisome 
journey, and attended the meeting of the Synod of Penn- 



14 THE STORK FAMILY IN THE LUTHERAN CHURCH. 

sylvania, " to strengthen himself," as the record says, 
" to renewed exertion in the service of his Divine Mas- 
ter." 

The Rev. Mr. A. Nussman, who had been settled for 
some years in North Carolina, and who hospitably re- 
ceived Mr. Stork, thus writes to Eev. Abbot Velthusen on 
November 12, 1788, which was only about six weeks 
after Stork's arrival : " Mr. Stork's sickness gave me 
much uneasiness and sorrow, for I love him on account 
of his learning, piety, temperament, and social qualities. 
. . . All persons who see and hear him love and honor 
him. I>ut God has helped us ; Rev. Stork is restored 
again, and may God preserve his health in future, so that 
whether I live or die, my expectations concerning him 
may be realized."* 

A report was sent to the Helmstaedt Mission Society 
the following year (1789), from which Dr. Velthusen 
makes the following extract : 

"Kev. Stork, as well as Mr. Rosclien, is satisfied in the midst 
of the congregations. * * * He praises the people, who treat 
him with love and respect and sui^jily him with the necessaries 
of life. * * * His congregation is building a house for him, 
and have oifered him a loan for purchasing a plantation, with- 
out which one can not succeed there. He still lives in Salis- 
bury, where an academy has been established in which there 
are some students, who receive instruction in Hebrew from him. 
In addition to that, he has also established a small German 
school. * * * He expects to confirm about fifty young per- 
sons next harvest season. ' ' 

In a report from Mr. Roschen, who had preceded Mr. 
Stork in North Carolina a short time, but who returned 
^Bernheim, 328. lb. 330. 



CHARLES AUGUSTUS GOTTLIEB STORK. 15 

to Germany about the year 1800, there is recorded a 
little incident -which deserves mention as being creditable 
to the character of the preaching in that district. He 
says : " Rev. Stork recently passed by the court house 
in Salisbury at the time a man was suffering the penalty 
of some crime by standing in the pillory. A German 
called us to stop awhile and see how the America s pun- 
ish rogues and thieves. Upon my asking him, ' The 
criminal is surely not a German ?' I received the gratify- 
ing reply, ' Never has a German stood in the pillory in 
Salisbury ; nor has ever a German been hung in this 
place.'"* 

Mr. Stork suffered from alarming depression of spirits, 
which accompanied him in a greater or less degree of 
severity all his life. Mr. Roschen in this same letter re- 
marks : " At first Stork in his hypochondria looked 
upon all things in a false light ; besides, his arrival in 
America Avas unpropitious (that is, he was confined to 
bed soon after his arrival in North Carolina). Now he 
speaks differently. We all preach in black clothes and 
neck-cloth, but mostly without a gown, and often in our 
overcoats during bad weather in winter." 

There is a singular proceeding reported in Dr. Bern- 
hcim's book, p. 338, in which Mr. Stork and four other 
German Lutheran pastors participated, and that was the 
ordination of a man to the Protestant Episcopal ministry. 
The ordination certificate is still extant, signed by five 
Lutheran ministers, in which it is expressly stated that 
•'R. J. Miller is hereby declared to be ordained to ' ad- 

*BeiDlieim, 332. 



16 THE STORK FAMILY IN THE LUTHERAN CHURCH. 

minister y^ sacraments and to have y" care of souls, he 
always being obliged to obey y^ rules, ordinances and 
customs of y" Christian Society, called y^ Protestant 
Episcopal Church in America !'" 

These men gave their reasons on the reverse side of 
this certificate why they had ordained a man who was a 
member of the Episcopal church as a minister of that 
denomination. These reasons should be made known 
for a more unecclesiastical and un-Lutheran transaction is 
not to be encountered. 

In a letter to Dr. A^elthusen, dated Salisbury, Feb- 
ruary^ 25, 1803, Mr. Stork describes his condition: 

''It is now nearly three years tliat I live in very sad circum- 
stances ; not only have I snftered during this time from various 
severe attacks of sickness, which brought me near to death, but 
likewise from an apparently incurable disease of the eyes, which 
seems to baffle all medical skill, and makes it impossible for me 
either to read or write. I aiTi, however, quite restored from my 
sickness of last fall, a disease similar to yellow fever, and which 
rages in this vicinity with great mortality ; I now feel tolerably 
strong and my eyes are somewliat better ; nevertheless according 
to the physician I need not expect any permanent rchtoration of 
my health in this climate I still serve my old con- 
gregations, and I continue to preach the doctrines of Jesus 
Christ, the crucified, in simplicity, and have happily experi 
enced the power of grace upon myself and others. The preva- 
lence of infidelity, the contempt of the best of all religions, its 
usages and servants, the increase of irreligion and crime, as 
remarked, have occasioned me many sad hours. Nevertheless 
I have found consolation and courage in the thought 

' So long as Christ protects His church, 
May hell its rage continue, 

and I hold fast to my faith, convinced that truth and religion 
will at last mightily raise up their head and prevail." 



CHARLES AUGUSTUS GOTTLIEB STORK. 17 

On the subject of the extraordinary manifestations of 
1800 and 1801, called revivals by many, and which cre- 
ated such a deep interest in the churches of the South 
and West in those days, Mr. Stork thus expresses him- 
self in a letter to Dr. Yelthusen, February 25, 1803: 

"By the side of this pestilence (infidelity) there prevails now, 
for over a year, a something, I knoAV not what to name it, and I 
should not like to ssi j fanaticism. Christians of every denomi- 
nation assemble themselves in the forest, number four, six, and 
sometimes ten thousand persons ; they erect tents, sing and 
pray and preach day and night, for five or six or eight days. I 
have been an eye-witness to scenes, in such large assemblies, 
which I cannot explain. I beheld young and old, feeble and 
strong, white and black, in a word, people of every age, posi- 
tion and circumstances, as though they were struck by lightning, 
speechless and motionless, and when they had somewhat recov- 
ered, they could be heard shrieking bitterly and supplicating 
God for mercy and grace. 

"After they had thus spent three and many of them even 
more hours, they rose up, praised God, and commenced to pray 
in such a manner as they never were wont to do, exhorting sin- 
ners to come to Jesus, etc., etc. Many of those who were thus 
exercised were iingodly persons before, and we can now dis- 
cover a remarkable change in them. Even deists have been 
brought to confess Christ in this way. Thus the affair continues 
to this hour. 

"Opinions are various in regard to it ; many, even ministers, 
denominate it the work of the devil ; others again would explain 
it in a natural way, or in accordance with some physical law ; 
whilst others look upon it as the work of God. Please, give me 
your opinion and explanation. The thing has occasioned me no 
little uneasiness. In our German congregations nothing of this 
kind has been manifested. The enclosed published ac- 
counts will be interesting to you ; the facts are similar to tliose 
which I myself have seen. The authors of these accounts are 
generally respectable men and worthy of belief." 



18 THE STORK FAMILY IN THE LUTHERAN CHURCH. 

The Synod of North Carolina was formed and held its 
first session in Salisbury on May 2, 1803 ; and Mr. 
Stork was elected first President, and was annually re- 
elected whenever he could be present. 

During the latter period of his life he removed to a 
farm ten miles south of Salisbury, where he resided the 
remnant of his days. The last six years of his life, how- 
ever, physical infirmities prevented him from discharging 
his ministerial duties publicly, but he suffered in calm 
submission to the will of God, and by his perfect resig- 
nation and patience exhibited the sanctifying power of 
divine grace. 

For nearly thirty-seven years he served the church 
faithfully, and his memory will be blessed. He will be 
honored as one of the fathers of the Lutheran Church in 
North Carolina, and the day of his departure, the 27th 
of March, 1831, was a day of sadness and mourning to 
all the community in which he lived. His illness contin- 
ued for nine weeks, and he frequently gave to his family 
and visiting friends the assurance of his hope of eternal 
life. 

The Rev. Paul Henkel, for many years contemporary 
with Mr. Stork, in writing of the churches in North 
Carolina, says, " In the vicinity of Salisbury, Rowan 
county, there are three strong Lutheran congregations, 
which have been served by Rev. Charles Stork for nearly 
twenty years ; but under many disadvantages, on account 
of the frequent and severe attacks of fever, which pros- 
trated his energies, . . . and which apparently had sev- 
eral times brought him near to the grave. His numer- 



CHARLES AUGUSTUS GOTTLIEB STORK. 10 

ous official duties lay often heavy upon him on account 
of his ill health, especially the administration of the 
Lord's Supper to 250 communicants at one time, so that 
his feeble powers of body were exhausted after having 
served all these people."* 

The following inscription is engraved upon the tablet 
in the cemetery of Organ church, which marks the spot 
where this useful servant of the Lord was laid to rest : 
" Sacred to the memory of the Rev. Charles A. G. Storch, 
Pastor of the Evangelical Lutheran Church; who was 
born on the 16th of June, A. D. 1764, and departed this 
life on the 2Tth day of March, 1831. Aged 66 years, 
9 months, and 11 days." 

A local newspaper, in noticing his death, says : "The 
deep and unrestrained emotions of the assembly of his 
spiritual children at the grave of their departed friend 
evinced the magnitude of their loss and the extent of his 
worth." 

He was a man of learning as well as of piety, as most of 
our earlier ministers were who received their education in 
Germany. He had the reputation of being a superior 
linguist, and besides being familiar with Hebrew, Greek 
and Latin, as all University-bred men were presumed to 
be, it is said that he spoke five or six languages. 

It is also said that his library was valuable, embracing 
quite a number of celebrated German authors, whose the- 
ological works were usually written in Latin. The re- 
port was that he had bequeathed many of them to our 
Theological Seminary at Gettysburg, of which he was 

*Berulieira, 367. 



20 THE STORK FAMILY IB THE LUTHERAN CHURCH. 

elected one of the first directors, and in the prosperity of 
which he had always showed the deepest interest. The 
most of his books, however, are in the possession of the 
College at Mt. Pleasant, North Carolina. 

Among the many interesting incidents of his pastoral 
life, the following deserves mention: "During a com- 
munion season in the spring of 1821, when a large class 
of catechumens, numbering 77 persons, were confirmed, 
their aged pastor being present, but too feeble" to stand 
during the ceremony, called all his catechumens to him, 
and gave them and the other members and friends of the 
church his last farewell. So affecting was the scene that 
the wliole of that vast assembly was moved to tears, and 
lonor has been remembered the serious lesson which their 
aged pastor addressed to them at the time, whilst he held 
out his hand to each and gave them his parting blessing. 
He had introduced the Eev. D. Scherer as his sucessor, 
and who on this occasion administered the Sacrament."* 

No one ever questioned the genuineness of his piety 
or the sincerity of his actions. Stern in his integrity, 
exemplary in his deportment, he awakened respect. The 
world acknowledged him to be an honest man, and paid 
to him as such its tribute of regard. He was a pious, 
humble Christian ; cheerful, yet devout ; zealous, without 
bigotry or fanaticism ; sprightly, without levity; grave, 
without moroseness ; a model of meekness and of every 
Christian virtue. No blemish ever sullied his conduct, 
no stain can tarnish the fair name he has left behind him.f 

*Beriibeira, 445. 

fProf. Stoever, Ev. Rev., vol. viii., 403. 



CHARLES AUGUSTUS GOTTLIEB STORK. 21 



LETTERS, 

From some Gentlemen, relating to Mr. Stork. — The first two are taken from 
Sprague's "American Lutheran Pulpit." 

LETTER FROM REV. THEOP. STORK D. D. TO DR. SPRAGUE. 

Baltimore Jan. 20, 1862. 
Bear Brother : I regret exceedingly that it is not iu my power 
to furnish you witli such i)ersonal recollections of my father, as 
would be worthy of him, or of tlie work in which you propose 
to incorporate them. I was but a boy when he died. Shortly 
after his death, I came North and have not since been associated 
with any of the family. Before I was old enough to take special 
interest in my father's library, it was distributed x)artlyat least, 
among poor ministers at the South. Some ten years ago, I went 
South with a view of finding some of the books and manuscripts 
which had belonged to him, but was unable to secure a single 
one, not even an autograph. I am ashamed to make this ac- 
knowledgment, but it is a fact, and one over which I have no 
control. My exile from home in my boyhood, and the early 
departure of my brothers and sisters, have left me without the 
simplest relic of my father. So far as I can now recall him, he 
was tall, erect, of robust constitution, and had a real German 
face, with a mild, benevolent expression. He was regarded as 
one of the most learned and eloquent of the early German mis- 
sionaries. He was said to be a remarkable linguist. I remember 
that Dr. Wilson, a Presbyterian clergyman from Mecklenburg 
county, used often to visit him, and they sometimes, to vary the 
scene a little, conversed in Greek. My father could speak some 
five or six languages fluently. He was eminently devoted to the 
great work of the ministry. But devoted as his whole life had 
been to Christ, he lamented, in his old age, that he had done so 
little for the souls purchased with a Saviour's blood. 
I am yours truly in the Lord, 

T. Stork. 
2* 



22 THE STORK FAMILY IN THE LUTHERAN CHURCH. 

FROM THE REV. D. P. ROSENMILLER TO DR. SPRAGUE. 

Lancaster, Pa., May 21, 1862. 

My Dear Sir : My acquaintance with the Rev. Charles A. G. 
Stork, of Cabarrus county, N. C, commenced in the spring of 
1829, and continued until his decease, in the early part of 1831. 
During that time he was in a feeble condition, and unable to 
leave home, or to engage in anything that required either bodily 
itr mental effort. His hospitable home was the favorite resort of 
many persons who honored and loved him as one of the excel- 
lent of the earth. He was living in the same community in 
which he had spent the whole of his active life ; and it was not 
strange that those who had so long been witnesses of his pure 
and elevated example, and sharers in the good which he had ac- 
comi>lished, should have delighted to bear their grateful testi- 
mony to his character and influence. 

Mr. Stork had received an excellent education in Germany, 
and was especially a proficient in the learned languages; and his 
well selected library was a proof that he kept pace with the 
theological literature of his time. In person he was tall and 
well proportioned, and his countenance was exjiressive of great 
meekness and benevolence. In his conversation he showed him- 
self discreet and thoughtful, and evinced a delicate regard for 
the feelings of others. In social life he was highly interesting 
and attractive, but always kept at a great remove from evei y 
thiug like unbecoming levity. 

Several years previous to the commencement of my acquain- 
tance with this excellent man, he had retired from all public 
duties, and the churches which he had served during his active 
ministry were under the charge of another pastor. The largest 
of his congregations were at Organ and St. John's churches. In 
my intercourse with his former parishioners, I often heard him 
spoken of as a very eloquent preaclier, and a kind-hearted and 
attentive pastor. I frequently heard them cite some of his 
favorite sentiments, among which I remember the following — 
"The Word of God is a beautiful flower ; but whilst the bee ex- 
tracts honey from it, the spider draws from the same the most 
active poison." 



CHARLES AUGUSTUS GOTTLIEB STORK. Zo 

Mr, Stork informed me that the churches he served were not 
the ones allotted to him Avhen he was sent from Germany, He 
'was designed for Lincoln county. But, after having endured a 
■stormy voyage,* he arrived in the eastern part of the State — 
perhaps Guilford county — and thence communicated to his pro- 
spective churches the fact of his arrival, and asked them to 
send for him. The answer which he received was characterized 
by a freezing indifference. Perhaps it should have been excused, 
emanating, as it did, from a people who stood sadly in need of a 
missionary's labors ; but the feelings of the newly-arrived pastor 
were deeply wounded by it, and he became anxious for a field in 
which he might labor with better prospects of sympathy and of 
success. Cabarius county was accordingly assigned to him. 

One peculiarity of Mr. Stork was his little knowledge of, and 
great indift'ereiice to, mere worldly matters. These he turned 
over to his faithful wife, in whose sagacity and prudence he had 
unbounded confidence. He had little or nothing of the spirit of 
worldly ambition. He never aspired to be a pastor in a, city, 
though his learning and eloquence would have qualified him for 
exercising his ministrj'^ in the most cultivated and refined com- 
munities. He was contented to remain a plain country j)arson, 
mingling in peace and love with a plain and truly good people, 
whom he conducted, by word and example, in the path which 
the Good Shepherd had pointed out. 

During one of my visits at Mr. Stork's house, a well-dressed 
gentleman called upon him, and stated that he was a refugee 
from Portugal, and had been an adherent of Don Pedro, who 
claimed his right to the Portuguese throne. But the party of 
Don ^[iguel had been too powerful for him, and the adherents 
of Don Pedro were compelled to leave the country, suffering 
the confiscation of their property. Mr. Stork was much inter- 
ested in the tale of the stranger, and besides asking him to dine, 
made a pecuniary contribution to his relief, to which I gladly 
added my mite. He asked the name of the placfe in which the 
stranger resided ; and when told that it was Montebello (Beau- 

*By sea from Baltiuiove to Charleston wliere he hought a horse and 
rode to North Carolina —[J. G. M.] 



24 THB stouk: family in the ltttheran chtjhch, 

tiful Mountain), he dwelt much on the beauty of the name, and 
also upon the cruelties practiced by the usuri^er, Don Miguel, 
When I was about to leave, he requested me to remind the Rev, 

J. R , of Salisbury, that he would be pleased to see him- 

"Tell him," said he, *'that I would like to receive some of the 
crumbs.'"' 

With great regard, very truly yours, 

D. P. ROSENMILLER. 

FROM REV. S. ROTHROCK. 

Gold Hill, Rowan Co, N C, Feb. 2, 1885. 

Dear Br. Morris : I regret that I cannot give you many facts 
in relation to Rev. C. A. G. Stork. He had died before I came 
to this county, consequently I had no personal acquaintance 
with him. There are but few persons living now that have much 
recollection of him. * * * * The congregation at Organ church 
numbered seventy-eight members, and promised him a yearly 
salary of forty pounds, North Carolina currency. He served 
Organ church as pastor thirty-five years. 

In his style of preaching he appears to have been plain, affec- 
tionate and earnest. His sermons were well arranged, instruc- 
tive and edifying. In his dress he was neat and precise. In his 
general demeanor he was dignified and affable, easy of approach 
by the humblest member of his flock. From the nature of his 
sermons he must have been studious in their preparation. I am 
not advised as to the extent of his library. In his habits of life 
he was very correct and exemplary. '^ ^^ ^'" '- He was highly es- 
teemed by his fellow-ministers, and I suppose him to have been 
sound in his theological faith. * * ^ * Mr. S. is said to have 
been a good musician, vocal and instrumental. 

Yours truly, S. Rothrock. 

FROM REV. D. J. HAUER, D. D. 

Hanover, Pa., March 4th, 1885. 
Rev. Dr. Morris— Dear Brother : You have requested me to 
give you my recollections of the Rev. Charles Augustus Gott- 
lieb Stork, of North Carolina. I regret that those recollections 



CHARLES AUGUSTUS GOTTTLIEB STORK. 25 

are not as perfect as I could desire, from the fact that half a cen- 
tury has elapsed since his death, and it was ray privilege to know 
him only in his declining years, when his physical force was 
abated, and his vigor impaired by disease and the hand of time. 

Our first meeting took place in the summer of 1827, at his 
home in Cabarrus county, nine miles south of Salisbury. It 
was upon my first visit to that section of the State, and as he 
was the oldest minister connected with the Lutheran Synod of 
North Carolina, and revered and beloved by his brethren and 
the community at large, I desired the privilege of his acquain- 
tance, and as a young minister to pay him my respects. 

He received me kindly, giving me a cordial welcome into the 
bosom of his interesting and agreeable family, which consisted 
of his wife and daughter, an amiable young lady, and his 
youngest son, Theophilus, whom he familarly called Gottlieb, 
and who was at that time studying the classics under his 
father's tuition. 

His massive head was an index of a vigorous brain, his fea- 
tures were somewhat irregular, but his mouth expressed the 
firmness and decision which always characterized him. His 
character as a gentleman and Christian minister was irreproach- 
able, and he enjoyed the confidence and esteem of Christians of 
all denominations. Affable in his manners, agreeable in his con- 
versation, and easily approached, he never failed to gather about 
him groups of admiring friends. 

Subject to fits of depression and melancholy, there were times 
when he would with the Psalmist exclaim, " All thy waves and 
thy billows are gone over me ." Yet he was fond of social inter- 
course, and at times was cheerful and even vivacious. As a 
preacher he was plain, practical and forcible, rendering his 
teachings intelligible to his audiences, whose salvation and en- 
lightenment he had at heart. 

As a pastor he was kind and affectionate in his manner, 
ready to sympathize with the distressed and suffering, and to 
administer to the relief of the needy. He was studious, and pre- 
pared his sermons with care, adapting them to the condition of 
the people to whom he preached. 



26 THE STORK FAMILY IN THE LUTHERAN CHURCH. 

He was earnest in his ministrations, and commanded not only 
the attention but the confidence of his liearers. He was, under 
Cxod, very successful in building up his churches ; the member- 
ship of the Organ church in Rowan, and St. John's in Cabarrus 
county, were the largest in connection with the Synod. He was 
indefatigable in hi^5 efforts to win souls to Christ, as might be 
expected of one educated under the Christian influence of the 
Franckean school at Halle, Germany ; and though his pastorate 
w^as large, he frequently visited vacant congregations and sought 
out the scattered Lutherans in other parts of the State — occa- 
sionally visiting the Lutheran settlements in the forks of the 
Saluda, in South Carolina, and ministering to the spiritual 
wants of old and young. 

His library consisted of choice works, principally German and 
Latin, and he was well versed in the doctrine of our holy Chris- 
tianity — ever ready to teach and defend the truth ; he was a 
strong advocate of the divinity of Christ, and the efficacy and 
necessity of His atonement, and the cardinal doctrine of '■'■ Justi- 
fication hy Faith.'''' He regarded the Augsburg Confession as a 
correct exposition of the fundamental doctrines of the word of 
God ; and as taught in a manner substantially correct in its 
doctrinal articles. 

He was liberal towards other denominations, believing in the 
communion of saints — not exclusive in his views, holding that 
in every nation those who '' feared God and wrought righteous- 
ness are accepted of Him ; " hence he enjoyed the friendship and 
esteem of Christians in general. 

He was one of the founders of the Snyod of North Carolina, 
and it could be said that he was head and front of the Lutheran 
church in the South . 

When the Episcopalians of Xorth Carolina resolved to organ- 
ize a convention under the direction of Bishop Moore of Vir- 
ginia, the good bishop was anxious to secure the aid and co- 
operation of Father Stork, and he was pressiugly invited to 
riieet in the proposed convention and unite with them. This he 
respectfully declined to do, and in his reply gave them to under- 
stand that he was an Evangelical Lutheran, and not an Episco- 



CHARLES AUGUSTUS GOTTLIEB STORK. 27 

paliau : and that the doctrines of the Lutheran Church in minor 
points as well as in polity diftered from the Episcopal. 

He would not aid in the organization of an ecclesiastical body- 
to which he did not wish to behmg, yet as an evidence of bis 
catholic spirit, he assured them tliat his church would be open 
to their ministry in their efforts to gather their dispersed mem- 
bers residing in the western part of the State, and to organize 
them into congregations. Such Christian liberality was wortby 
of the man. 

He was the decided friend of an active spirituality, and re- 
joiced to see and hear of the conversion of souls. On one occa- 
sion of visiting him, I found him suffering from mental depres- 
sion, and reclining upon his bed. As was his custom, he asked 
for news from the churches, and when told of a gracious work 
of grace in the congregation of Rev. Jacob Miller, of Stokes 
county, he arose promptly, and calling to his son Gottlieb to 
bi ing him his slippers, he sat up and expressed feelings of de- 
light, rejoicing like the angels over the repentance of sinners, 
and commending the fidelity and zeal of brother Miller. 

He was a father in Israel, and the friend and prudent coun- 
selor of young ministers, in whose welfare and success he man- 
ifested a deep interest, pointing out the dangers to which they 
were exposed, and giving them wholesome advice, that they 
might escape from temptation and maintain blameless reputa- 
tions. 

He was a decided friend of temperance, and as it was custom- 
ary in that early day to offer the social glass even to ministerial 
guests, he advised young clergymen to set their faces against the 
custom, and kindly refuse this so-called expression of hospitality, 
adding, ''that total abstinence is the only safeguard against in- 
temperance." 

He frequently related incidents connected with his ministry, 
some of which were quite ludicrous. On one occasion, when 
making a missionary tour among destitute Lutherans in South 
Carolina, he was obliged to improvise a pulpit. Finding a hogs- 
head, he mounted thereon. While addressing his audience, he 
felt his foundation yielding, and in a moment his feet were 



28 THE STORK FAMILY IN THE LUTHERAN CHURCH. 

upon the ground, and he was encased in the hogshead. Kind 
hands soon relieved him from tliis unpleasant predicament, 
amid the suppressed laughter of the assembly. 

He continued to labor with earnestness and fidelity until the 
organization of the Tennessee Conference, whose members, by 
their opposition to the recently-organized General Synod, pro- 
duced discord and schism in many of the congregations of 
Korth Carolina, including part of his charge, which depressed 
him very much ; and as the infirmities of age were increasing, 
he was induced to resign Ids charge, contrary to the wishes of 
his people, whom he had faithfully served for many yeais. 

As regards the time of his death and attending circumstances, 
I can say nothing, as it occurred after my removal from the 
State, but "his was the path of the just, shining more and more 
unto the perfect day,'' and doubtless, "his end was peace." 

''He needs no verse his virtues to i*ecord ; 
He lived, Lie died, a servant of the Lord," 

Truly yours, Daniel J. IIauer. 



REV. THEOPHILUS STORK. D. D. 



CHAPTER I. 

BIRTH AND PARENTAGE — HOME TRAINING — COLLEGE AND SEM- 
INARY EDUCATION — SOME OF HIS CLASSMATES — MANNERS 
AND DISPOSITION— DR. DIEHL'S MEMOIR — PREACHING IN HIS 
STUDENT YEARS. 

IN the preceding biography I have traced the emi- 
nently useful career, as far as the limited sources of 
information would allow, of Rev. Carl Augustus Gott- 
lieb Storch (which was the original German family 
name), and now I shall endeavor to present a portrait of 
his distinguished son, Theophilus, who was baptized 
GrottUeb, an expressive old German Christian name, but 
which was changed by himself into the beautiful and 
more euphonious Greek synonym, Theophilus. He was 
born near Salisbury, RoAvan County, North Carolina, in 
August, 1814.* His mother's name was Christiana 
Beard, the daughter of the man with whom the father of 
Theophilus lived when he first came to this country in 
1788. 

We have very little authentic information concerning 
his early years. The boy grew up on the paternal farm, 
and had such educational advantages as the neighborhood 

* The precise date I could not learn. 
(29) 



30 THE STORK FAMILY IN THE LUTHERAN CHURCH. 

afforded. He must have made some progress, however, 
for he taught a school before leaving home for Gettys- 
burg, and he could not have been over sixteen years of 
age when he wielded the country school-master's birch 
over the children of his father's parish. It is said that 
in early life he showed a fondness for reading, but it is 
presumed that he had little opportunity of gratifying his 
taste, for the lack of the kind of books which pleased him. 
His father's library consisted of nothing but theological 
and classical works in German or Latin, neither of which 
the studious boy could at that time read ; and there were 
very few books of English literature to be found in that 
section of North Carolina fifty-five years ago, when 
young Stork was a plain country lad at home. His love 
for books which he delighted in could only be indulged 
in later years, when he came into contact with libraries 
and into the society of men of like tastes and pursuits to 
his own. 

His youthful morals were of the strictest character, for 
his father's domestic discipline was of the good old Ger- 
man Lutheran type ; but Theophilus was a boy of a nat- 
urally gentle disposition, who easily yielded to paternal 
control. He thus grew up to be a blameless man, whose 
fair name was never sullied by the breath of suspicion. 

Theophilus entered what was then called the Gym- 
nasium at Gettysburg, in October, 1830. This prepara- 
tory school was soon after elevated to the character of a 
college, of which he became a pupil with his classmates. 
He must have remained at Gettysburg six or seven years. 
He went there in 1830, graduated from college in 1835, 



REV. THEOPIIILUS STORK, D. D. 31 

and studied in the Seminary two years, which at that 
time was the prescribed time, but at present is extended 
to three years.* 

Rev. Dr. Diehl, in a sketch of the life of Dr.. Stork in 
the Quarterly Reviezv, 1875, and who was contemporary 
with him in college, thus speaks of him : " It was in the 
winter of 1833 : Mr. S. was then in his nineteenth year. 
He was tall, slender and graceful ; always neatly dressed, 
genial in his association w'ith the students. In boisterous 
sports he took no part. He was quite a favorite in soci- 
ety . . . among the students he was equally popular. 
He was dearly loved by his more intimate associates, and 
seemed to have no enemies. Even the rivalries incident 
to college life did not apparently awaken any malicious 
feeling towards him ... He was considered a good 
scholar, holding a respectable standing in a class of great 
talent. He excelled in belles lettres ; also in mental 
and moral science. He ranked higher in language than 
in mathematics." 

At this time the College faculty was composed of Rev. 
Dr. C. P. Krauth, Sen. President; Rev. M. Jacobs, 
Professor of Mathematics and Natural Science; Rev. H. 
1j. Baugher, Professor of Greek ; Rev. W. M. Reynolds, 

*The Theological Seminary was established in 1826. The 
Classical School to prepare young men for Theological study 
was opened in 1827, under the tutorship of Rev. D. Jacobs ; in 
1829, a scientific department under the care of his brother, Rev, 
M. Jacobs, was added, and the united schools were called the 
Gettysburg Gymnasium. Upon the lamented death of Prof. D. 
Jacobs, the Rev. H. L. Baugher was appointed Classical teacher 
in 1831 ; and the college proper was established in 1832. 



32 THE STORK FAMILY IN THE LUTHERAN CHURCH. 

Professor of the Latin Language and Literature ; Rev. 
J. H. Marsden, Professor of Mineralogy and Botany. 

Theophilus Stork was graduated in 1835, which was 
the second class that received diplomas. There were 
only Sophomore and Freshman classes formed the first 
year of the college. The valedictory was assigned to 
him, which was regarded as the first honor. He is said 
by those who knew him in those days to have been a 
beautiful speaker and a good writer, though somewhat 
too florid, whicli as a collegian's defect can easily be 
overlooked. 

Two of his classmates were Samuel Sprecher and Ezra 
Keller, both strong and good men, and both became Pre-' 
sidents of Wittenberg College. Keller died young, but 
after rendering unspeakably great service to the Church ; 
whilst Dr. Sprecher still lives, the honored survivor of a 
class of talented men. and maintaining a high rank among 
the theologians of our Church. Judge Dale, of Illi- 
nois, was another member of the class, who is still living 
and reflecting honor upon his alma mater by maintaining 
great reputation as a jurist and an enterprising citizen. 
Judge Dale attended the semi-centennial celebration of 
the college in 1882, where he met some of the men of his 
college generation and v»^as received most cordially by all. 
David F. Bittle was the only other member of the class 
I have room to mention. He was an honored member 
of our ministry and a most industrious and successful 
worker in the Church. His founding of Roanoke college 
is alone the proudest monument that could be erected 
to his memory. 



REV. THEOPIIILUS STORK, D. D. 33 

Youno; Stork was one of the founders of the Phrena- 
kosmian Society in 1831, and the President of it in 1832 
and 1834 ; anniversary speaker in 1835, and debater in 
1833 and 1835. 

During his college life his Christian character -^as 
richly developed, and the purity of his life had a whole- 
some influence upon his fellow students. He was not 
morose or even ascetic as a Christian, but loving, tender 
and meek. 

He was not remarkable for close attention to his col- 
lege studies, but he read extensively in English literature, 
and poetry especially. He had a good memory, and 
could easily commit numerous stanzas and striking pass- 
ages. He was not considered a ready oif-hand debater 
in the college society, but none could excel him in a writ- 
ten discourse or argument. 

Though he was a graduate of both institutions at Get- 
tysburg, and holding influential positions in the church, 
he never served as a Trustee or Director in either of 
them, and seldom or perhaps never attended the public 
exercises at the Commencements of the College or exhibi- 
tions of the Seminary classes. He did not heartily 
patronize either of them when it was in his power to 
do so, and when it would have been of advantage to him. 
I know myself that he did not admire one or two of the 
most prominent men in the Faculties, but he would not 
be convinced that this did not justify a withdrawal of his 
support from those schools which we were all laboring so 
hard to uphold. He sent his son Charles to the Prepar- 
atory school, but took him away after a few months. 



34 THE STORK FAMILY IN THE LUTHERAN CHURCH. 

I could nowhere find any record of the time and place 
of his conversion, at which we need not be surprised, for 
he w^as very reticent to strangers on the subject of his 
religious experience, although in his letters to the mem- 
bers of his household, as will be seen, he pours out his 
heart's emotions fully and tenderly. I doubt whether he 
would have been able . to specify any peculiar circum- 
stances attending the great change, but it was one of 
those gradual processes more felt than seen, and the nat- 
ural outgrowth of his religious training at home. That 
it was thorough, his religious activity and godly life have 
signally exhibited. 

IN THE SEMINARY. 

In the fall of 1835 he entered the Theological Semi- 
nary, of which at that time Drs. Schmucker and Krauth 
were the onl}^ professors, and two years constituted the 
period of study. 

His class consisted of thirteen, only one of whom, the 
Rev. Dr. C. W. Schaeflfer, Professor in the Philadelphia 
Seminary, is now (188G) living. Among the others 
best known in the church were Michael Eyster, D. F. 
Bittle, and Ezra Keller. 

His papers, which have been submitted to me, give no 
information concerning his life in that institution, and 
with all my efforts I have failed to procure any facts of 
an unusual or striking character. He is represented as 
being studious in his habits, exemplary in his life, and ad- 
dicted to the same course of literary reading which he 
pursued in college. He was regarded as a fair belles- 
lettres scholar, possessing a fine poetical taste, and abJe 



REV. THEOPIIILUS STORK, D. D. 35 

to quote poetry on all occasions. His seminary exer- 
cises were always neat and beautiful, and whilst he was 
not a fluent speaker nor happy in an off-hand protracted 
argument, in which men of far inferior intellect may 
have surpassed him, yet he was solid even if ornate, and 
instructive even if diffusive. He secured the sincere 
regard and confidence of his fellow-students, and the re- 
spect of his teachers. 

Dr. Diehl in the article previously quoted gives us a 
few interesting facts, which betray the character of our 
friend. He says: ''During the second year in the 
Seminary, and especially in vacation time, he occasionally 
preached. His method at that time was to write his 
sermons with much care, and then to so familiarize his mind 
with the discourse as to deliver it without much use of 
the manuscript. His delivery had all the force and free- 
dom of extemporaneous speaking. Nor did he confine 
himself to the written sermon. Under the influence of 
excitement he sometimes burst forth into impromptu elo- 
quence of great power. An incident occurring to his 
eye would rouse him into indignation or melt him into 
sympathy, that called forth unwonted power of utterance. 
The people in the towns in Franklin, Washington and 
Frederick counties, in which he was accustomed to spend 
part of his vacation, long remembered some of his im- 
promptu bursts of oratory. One occurred in Jefferson, 
Frederick county, Md., where he was spending several 
weeks with his friends. He was preaching one Sunday 
morning in the old Stone Church, when he observed a 
thoughtless young man talking to his companions in a dis- 



36 THE STORK FAMILY IN THE LUTHERAN CHURCH. 

orderly manner. It kindled young Stork's indignation. 
With flashing eye he turned to the young man, and in 
tones of awful tenderness thundered out, ^ Young man, I 
fear the first ray of light that will flash on your benighted 
soul will be reflected from the flames of hell !' On 
another occasion, preaching in one of the villages of 
Washington county, he noticed an aged woman weeping 
so sorrowfully during nearly all the sermon, that he sup- 
posed she must be crushed to the ground by an intolerable 
weight. His sympathies were deeply moved. He broke 
from the thread of his discourse and addressed her with 
so much pathos, and poured into the wounded spirit such 
a Christian consolation and hope, that the whole congre- 
gation was melted into tears." 



CHAPTER II. 

LICENSE TO PllEACFI— CALL TO WINCHESTER — MARRIAGE — SUC- 
CESS AS PASTOR — LETTER FROM REA^. DR. GILBERT. 

IN August, 1837, he was called as pastor to the church 
at Winchester, Ya., and accepted it even before he 
was licensed to preach. This course was not uncommon 
in those days, and in order to authorize young men to 
enter upon ministerial engagements under such circum- 
stances, the Presidents of some of oi^r Synods licensed 
them to preach ad interim^ until they should be exam- 
ined by the Synod at its next meeting, and then be regu- 
larly and permanently admitted to the ministry. Ezra 
Keller, D. F. Bittle and W. H. Smith were licensed at 
the same meeting with Mr. Stork by the Synod of Mary- 
land. 

Mr. Stork succeeded the Rev. N. Goertner at Win- 
chester. Young Stork's fiery eloquence, suavity of tem- 
per and refinement of manners, secured the admiration of 
his people and the esteem of the whole population, which 
he maintained throughout his life. 

Not long after his settlement he was married on No- 
vember 16th, 1837, by Rev. S. W. Harkey, to Miss Mary 
Jane Lynch, daughter of William Lynch, Esq., then 
living near Jefferson, Frederick county, Md., and sister 
of Judge John A. Lynch, at present of Frederick. 

Everything was favorable to Mr. Stork's ministerial 
3 (37) 



do THE STORK FAMILY IN THE LUTHERAN CHURCH. 

success in Winchester. He was a sympathizing pastor, 
a popular preacher, and a perfect Christian gentleman. 
His people were ardently attached to him and his wife, 
and gave him a generous support. They were proud of 
his growing reputation abroad and the admiration he 
gained from the influential members of other churches in 
and about Winchester. He was well spoken of as a 
preacher through the valley, and strangers staying over 
Sunday would go to hear Mr. Stork, of whom they 
heard so much as a first-class preacher. And thus he 
went on, year after year, gaining still greater reputation 
as a pulpit orator. As one of his classmates said, three 
years after Mr. Stork went to Winchester, "He has all 
the elements of a good preacher — person, voice, manner, 
magnetism, thought, sentiment, pungency and pathos." 

Dr. Diehl, who was his hearer for eight months in 
1840, and whose judgment is unbiased, says : " No 
competent judge will question that in the delivery of his 
sermons, in the gracefulness and propriety of gesture, in 
freedom, in rich and varied tones of voice, in the electric 
power flashing from his eyes, rarely turning to the man- 
uscript but ranging over all the audience, in gushing 
thought and emotion expressed in every lineament of his 
face, he had few equals during the first five or six years 
of his ministry." 

But this popularity as a preacher was not the whole of 
his success. It was not all which he aimed at. Doing 
good to the souls of men was his purpose ; and this also, 
by divine grace, he accomplished. The fruits of his min- 
istry were abundant. His church had been without a 



REV. THEOPHTLUS STORK, D. D. 89 

minister for several years. Some of the young people 
had strayed away, and some of the old ones were begin- 
ning to be careless. All the inconveniences of a church 
without a pastor were experienced, as well as all the dis- 
advantages, but soon after young Stork became pastor a 
gratifying change took place. The attendance on public 
worship steadily increased. Those who had temporarily 
gone oif returned, and those who had remained became 
more strongly attached. The young people resumed 
their places, and the number of catechumens increased. 
The Lord's Supper had more participants than in former 
times, and the addition of members by certificate was 
greater. The church was full of attentive hearers, and 
harmony prevailed in the congregation. 

The following letter from the Rev. Dr. D. M. Gilbert, 
of Winchester, gives a picture of Mr. Stork's character 
whilst he was pastor of that church : 

May 1st, 1885. 
Dear Doctor : Dr. Theophilus Stork became pastor of our 
church here October 9th, 1837, being then in the 24th year of his 
age. lie was, as you are well aware, from the time of his en- 
trance upon ministerial life very popular and successful, both aa 
a preacher and pastor, and greatly endeared himself to all classes 
of people in the congregation by his amiable disposition and hivS 
unaftected interest in their highest welfare. His labors were 
fruitful in good results, and his character and services are held 
in affectionate remembraEce by all yet spared to us who were 
privileged to wait on his ministry. You have, no doubt, often 
noticed how some little foible or eccentricity of a man will be 
remembered and spoken of by his friends long after more im- 
portant things are generally forgotten. I find it somewhat so 
in the case of Dr. Stork. No one has told me anything of any 
particular sermon he preached, but quite frequently have I 



40 THE STORK FAMILY IN THE LUTHERAN CHURCH. 

heard instances given of liis indifference in those early days with 
regard to matters of personal appearance. 

The characteristics of his preaching which appear to be espe- 
cially remembered are the beauty of diction, which throughout 
life marked everything that he wrote, and the earnestness of 
his delivery. A friend has recently told me that he well remem- 
bers hearing an old gentleman, long since gone to his rest, in 
speaking of different ministers, say something like this: "I like 
to hear Mr. Stork preach. If a man stands in the door of his 
house, gazing aimlessly about, and quietly ejaculating, as if 
talking to himself, 'lire, fire,' who pays any attention to him? 
But if he rushes out into the street, eagerly looking for those 
whose notice he would attract, and with uplifted arms shouting 
* fire, fire, fire,' it is not likely that he will be very long in get- 
ting some response to his calls ; and that illustrates just about 
the difterence between ^Mr. Stork's style of preaching and that 
of some other men. He evidently feels the importance of his 
message, of the solemnity of the warnings it is his duty to give, 
and when he speaks them out to you from the pulpit his whole 
manner shows that he is in dead earnest about it." Everything 
that I have ever heard about Dr. Stork's preaching in the first 
years of his ministry fully accords with this testimony. 

The congregation in Winchester was greatly strengthened by 
Dr. Stork's ministrations, and it was during his residence in 
Winchester that the ground was purchased for the building of a 
new church, which was completed and dedicated about three 
months after his removal. 

The attachment which grew up between Dr. Stork and the peo- 
ple of this, his first pastoral charge, was very strong. His resig- 
nation, which was unexpected, appears to have been regarded 
by the congregation as of the nature of a serious calamity. He 
was formally urged in a long communication, signed by the 
members of the church council, to reconsider his determination 
and agree to devote his time and talents to the interests of the 
Winchester congregation still further, being assured that there 
would be no difficulty in arranging for increase of salary if that 
would prove a consideration of any weight in the decision. This 



REV. THEOPHILUS STORK, D. D. 41 

document, a copy of which is before me as I write, expresses 
the highest regard for Mr. Stork personally, and an affectionate 
appreciation of his labors as a minister, as being "held not only 
by the congregation but by the whole community of Winches- 
ter ;" and tells him that the council have resolved to take no 
action upon his resignation offered a few days before, until they 
have had opportunity to communicate more fully with him on 
the subject, hoping that he would ultimately decide to continue 
with them. 

This appeal, in connection no doubt with many made by offi- 
cers and members of the congregation in personal interviews, 
had the desired effect upon Mr. Stork. He was not prevailed 
upon not to go to Philadelphia, for he appears to have commit- 
ted himself too fully to the people of St. Matthew's for that ; but 
he was induced to enter into an engagement to return to the 
Winchester church either in the spring, or at furthest at the 
close of one year's service in St. Matthew's. This arrangement 
was concluded after Mr. Stork's departure, for I find in the re- 
cords a copy of a letter from the council, addressed to him at 
Philadelphia in October, 1844, which says, "Your favor accept- 
ing again the charge of the church in Winchester was duly re- 
ceived," and in which Mr. Stork is assured of "the sincere and 
ardent satisfaction of the congregation at the prospect," etc. 
Our congregation here, in view of this engagement, engaged the 
late Rev. Jas. R. Keiser as a supply until the time appointed for 
Mr. Stork's return. 

But the arrangement, as you know, was never carried out. 
At a meeting of the Winchester church council, held May 4th, 
1842, a letter from Mr. Stork was presented, in which he asked 
to be released from his engagement for reasons therein set forth ; 
whereupon, by resolution, he was unanimously released, and 
the council, "collectively and individually tendered him, as 
their friend and former pastor, their best wishes for a speedy 
restoration to health, and for his future usefulness in his present 
field of labor." 

Yours truly, D. M. Gilbert. 



CHAPTER III. 

REMOVAL TO PHILADELPHIA — PASTOR OF ST. MATTHEW'S — RE- 
VIVAL SYSTEM — LETTERS FROM PARISHIONERS — HIS OWN LET- 
TERS — SECRETARY OP GENERAL SYNOD — SCENE IN A COUNTRY 
CHURCH — LETTER FROM CHARLESTON IN 1850 — DESCRIPTION 
OF A VOYAGE — FORMATION OF EAST PENNSYLVANIA SYNOD IN 
1841 — ORGANIZATION OF ST. MARK's— CALL TO NEWBERRY, 
S. C. 

EARLY in 1840, the second Lutheran church in Ger- 
' mantown, Pa., since served so many years by Rev. 
Dr. L. E. Albert, called Mr. Stork as pastor, but he de- 
clined accepting it. 

In 1841, he was elected pastor of St. Matthew's church 
in New street, Philadelphia, as the successor of Rev. 
Mr. Mealey. This church was founded and built under 
the ministerial care of Rev. C. P. Krauth, sr., who be- 
gan his arduous work in the upper room of what was 
then known as the Academy, corner of Fourth and Arch 
streets. It was a struggle from the beginning to the 
consummation. Mr. Krauth labored faithfully amid many 
discouragements, receiving no sympathy from the Ger- 
man churches, and very little from the only English one 
then in Philadelphia. Many men would have succumbed 
under this heavy responsibility and unpromising enter- 
prise, but that man of delicate frame and feeble voice 
had an iron will, sanctified by divine grace, and a per- 
severance in the accomplishment of a good object that 

could not be intimidated. 

(42) 



43 

Mr. Stork accepted this call and removed to Phila- 
delphia in September, 1841. 

He here had a wider field of operation — he was thrown 
into new associations — there were many other first-class 
preachers in that city but he had four years' experience, 
and he was young and vigorous and ardent. He had a 
holy ambition to succeed in his new field, and he had 
the happiness of seeing his church growing steadily, and 
many strong friends gathering around him. It was at 
that time the only English Lutheran church in Philadel- 
phia, besides St. John's in Race street, and was not in a 
locality most favorable to progress ; but with this disad- 
vantage, and others which need not be mentioned, he 
soon filled his house of worship with an attentive and 
attached congregation. He took an active interest in 
the religious movements of the day, and freely co-operated 
with other ministers in the promotion of our common 
Christianity. 

It was the day when the revival system was popular 
in nearly all the churches, and when remarkable religious 
excitement extensively prevailed. Numerous meetings 
were held all over the country ; and although extravagan- 
ces among a certain class of people seemed unavoidable, 
and some ministers even were sometimes drawn into the 
use of measures of doubtful expediency, still there is no 
doubt that thousands of persons heard the truths of the 
gospel impressively set forth who were not regular church 
goers, and many were induced to ask how to be saved, 
who before were indifferent. Even if hundreds of pro- 
fessed converts did not keep their vows, yet hundreds 



44 THE STORK FAMILY IN THE LUTHERAN CHURCH. 

more did, and died or still live in the faith. Superficial 
profession and presumed conversion are inseparable from 
extensive religious excitement, and the great mistake of 
those days, and indeed of any " revival," is the neglect of 
teaching these converts the doctrines of the gospel as 
catechumens before admitting them to the full privileges 
of the church. If we who practiced the system to a 
greater or less extent had formed catechetical classes of 
these people and taught them as we do our catechumens, 
we would not have had so many apostacies to lament. 

When Mr. Stork accepted the pastorate of St. Mat- 
thew's, he adopted the revival system with vigor. A 
pious mother in Israel remembers the time, "when in 
that church, heads of families and young and old were 
irresistibly drawn to the altar, and the aisles were filled 
up with anxious, penitent souls. Strangers, even young 
and thoughtless, could hardly remain in their pews, so 
evidently was the power of the Holy Ghost manifested. 
This state of things continued during his Avhole pastor- 
ate, until the new church in Spring Garden street was 
completed, and there he continued his earnest appeals to 
sinners, and he could not rest satisfied unless he felt that 
the presence of God was with his labors. The people 
were devoted to their pastor, and would walk long dis- 
tances to attend every service during the week." 

This witness to his fidelity thus continues : " I have 
felt it to be my duty for a long time to bear testimony 
for the glory of God and to encourage my dear pastor by 
telhng what divine grace can do and has done in answer 
to our prayers, and especially to a mother's, and how God 



REV. THEOPHILUS STORK, D. D. 45 

has blessed a mother and her eight children. Consecrated 
to God bj prayer and baptism, and when they were 
capable of receiving instruction, they were taught the 
doctrines of the gospel and their duties as Christians 
from Luther's Catechism by Mr. Stork, and confirmed by 
him, and ever since thev have followed Christ." 

EXTRACTS FROM A FEW OF THE MANY LETTERS WRITTEN 
BY DR. STORK TO HIS FORMER PARISHIONERS 
AT WINCHESTER. 

Philadelphia, January 12, 1841 . 

After some apologies for his delay in answering the dear sis- 
ter's letter, he proceeds: 

I must tell you what the Lord has done for us here. I have 
been having a protracted meeting for nearly three weeks in St. 
Matthew's, and the Lord has blessed us, beyond even the meas- 
ure of our faith. During the meeting there have been upward 
of fifty anxious souls who have asked "what they must do to 
be saved." Nearly forty have professed a change of heart. 
And last Sunday I received upwards of thirty into the church 
by confirmation, baptism, and certificate. The work is still 
going on — preaching every night, and anxious meeting every 
afternoon. I believe there were sixteen at anxious meeting this 
afternoon. 

But with all this good news, I am sorry to say 1 have been 
much afflicted in body for the last three weeks. In fact, my 
lungs are afl'ected. I have scarcely had an undisturbed night's 
rest during the meeting. My general health is bad. Next 
week I intend to have my chest examined by one of the best 
j)hysicians in this country, and if he should confirm my present 
apprehensions, I do not know what I shall do. 

Well now, I suppose you desire to know when I intend com- 
ing to Winchester. What shall I say ? I am not unwilling to 
fulfill my promise, but if my liealth continues to decline, I could 
do but little good. But spring will determine the matter. I 
3* 



46 THE STORK FAMILY IN THE LUTHERAN CHURCH. 

have not yet told any of the congregation here of my engage- 
ment, for fear it would injure my usefulness. 

Have C, H., and V. become pious? I have prayed for them 
all. O, that they would remember their Creator in the days of 
their youth. Several about the age of Y. came out during the 
meeting here, and are now rejoicing in the Saviour. 

* * « * * * * 

Philadelphia, December 10th, 1842. 

Your kind letter came to me as a comforter in the gloomy 
hours of affliction. For the last three or four days I have been 
confined to my chamber and bed, with a bilious attack. You 
must never consider your letters as an intrusion; no, they are 
to me the most welcome messengers. They, as if by one magic 
touch, open up the whole of the reminiscences of Winchester. 
I feel soothed ; it is a luscious melancholy like that produced by 
the sweet and simple songs of my childhood, I assure you that 
I am exceedingly delighted to receive a letter from any of my 
friends, but more especially from one who always sympathized 
with me in my ministerial difficulties, and gave me so many 
tokens of friendship and Christian affection. It is true I am 
not always prompt in responding to letters that I receive, but 
that is owing to the incessant pressure of ministerial duties, and 
sometimes to a natural negligence which has nothing to do with 
the heart. 

As you rejoice in the conversion of sinners everywhere, I must 
give you a little account of our meeting. I kept up a meeting 
in St. Matthew's for three weeks without interruption. We 
had not as extensive a work as last winter, but we have reason 
to be thankful for what has been done. Eighteen or twenty 
professed conversion during the meeting, and the church was 
greatly revived. But at present I am unable to preach, and 
indeed my system for some time has been prostrated. I expect 
I will have to go to the country yet, and take a charge where I 
would have riding on horseback and exercise in the open air. 

It would be useless for me to say that nothing would afford 
me more real satisfaction than to be present and participate in 
the solemn exercises of the consecration. O, it would indeed be 



REV. THEOPHILUS STORK, D. D. 47 

an intellectual and spiritual feast ! But what could I do as I 
now am ? 1 would be utterly unable to engage in the exercises 
of the occasion. 
I would write more, but my head feels as if it were bursting. 
* -jfr -se- * * * -jt 

Philadelphia, February 19th, 1844. 

Nothing can give me such unmingied satisfaction as to hear 
from time to time of one and another of my old friends giving 
themselves to the Lord. I rejoice in the intelligence that Mr. 
J. H. and Mr. P. M. have professed their faith in the Son of 
God, Congratulate them for me, and tell them for me to en- 
dure hardness as good soldiers of the cross, and I will pledge 
myself, by the grace of God, to meet them, and all my pious 
friends in Winchester, at the right hand of the Judge, and stand 
together upon Mount Zion, inhaling immortal joys. 

I was gratified with the effusions of piety in your letter, and 
you must pardon me when I tell you that I repeated some of the 
sentiments of your letter in our prayer-meeting. Of course, I 
did not mention your name. "When I was in Yirginia a few 
weeks ago, I cast a longing look towards Winchester, but it was 
impossible to indulge the luxury of a visit at that time. I was 
on a wedding excursion, and was obliged to return before Sab- 
bath. 

* -x- ^t * -Jf -x- -x- 

I am happy in knowing that you are now supplied with a pas- 
tor whose labors are universally satisfactory, and which, by the 
blessing of the Great Head of the Church, will be productive 
of great and permanent good. And I feel some satisfaction in 
the reflection that I did all in my power to secure his valuable 
services for the church so dear to my heart. 

We are, I think, in a healthful and prosperous condition. 
But in consequence of my health, I have not been able to hold 
any protracted meetings this winter. The doctor urged upon 
me the necessity of leaving the city, and taking some charge in the 
country. But how can I again rupture the ties that have been 
formed? And yet, if there is no change for the better, I will 
be compelled to submit. If I remain here, how gladly will I 



48 THE STORK FAMILY IN THE LUTHERAN CHURCH. 

welcome you in our midst, and do all in my power to make 
your stay the most liappy. 

Philadelphia, June 24, 1844. 

Since the receipt of your letter there has been quite a revolu- 
tion in my temporal position — I have at length entered upon 
the hitherto untried pleasures of housekeeping. I am now com- 
fortably lodged and boarded in my own house, and as the old 
saying is, place my feet under my own table. I assure you I 
find it quite a change for the better, I have everything that I 
desire of this world, and if kind Providence will now deign to 
add the blessing of heaven to the grace of God, enable me to 
glorify Him, who loved me and gave Himself for me, I shall 
have all for which I care and pray. One of the greatest pleas- 
ures of housekeejjing, is the opportunity it furnishes for the ex- 
ercise of hospitality. I have felt it already, and I can assure you, 
nothing will afford me greater pleasure than to entertain any of 
my Winchester friends in whose kind rich hospitality I have so 
richly shared. * * v^ * * * * - * 

This is quite a chapter on housekeeping — but as it is quite a 
novelty with me, you will excuse this exuberance of feeling. 

I am hai)py to hear from time to time of your increasing pros- 
perity in the church. Bro. S is a man whose worth will 

increase in your estimation the longer you know him. He has 
rare excellencies as a man and preacher. And I am sure, from 
what I know of you all, you will appreciate his merits and love 
him most dearly. Our church matters are prosperous, though 
nothing special. I expect to have quite an addition at our next 
communion. There seems to have been rather a spiritual bar- 
renness throughout the churches dui-ing the last year. But I 
think God has been teaching us a lesson which it was important 
for the church to learn, and which will ultimately be attended 
with greater and richer blessings to Zion. 

I would gladly accept your invitation to spend part of the 
summer with you. But it is probable I shall not be able to 
travel this summer. I must be more economical. If I leave at 
all, it will be only for a few weeks. So that I shall not enjoy 
the happiness of spending some time in Winchester this summer. 



REV. THEOPHILUS STORK, D. D. 49 

HOME CORRESPONDENCE. 

New York, May 13th, 1848. 

Sunday Ercning : We had (at the meeting of the General 
Synod) a most precious and soul edifying Sabbath. In the 
morning Dr. Bachman, of Charleston, preached a most thrilling 
and rousing sermon. He is in the evening of life, but seems to 
possess the fervor, and fire, and enthusiasm of youth. In the af- 
ternoon we had a Synodical Communion. There, around the 
altar, knelt about fifty ministers of Jesus Christ — the hoary 
headed and the young from all parts of the United States. To 
me, and I believe to all, it was deeply affecting and impressive. 
I wept like Mary at the feet of Jesus, and I rejoiced like Peter 
on the Mount of Transfiguration. Harris remarks, "The nearer 
we are drawn to the cross the closer we are bound to His people." 
I felt this to-day. Just as in the natural world, the nearer the 
great centre of gravitation the greater the power of cohesive at- 
traction, so the nearer the cross, the great central point of spirit- 
ual gravitation, the closer the afiinity and cohesion of souls. 

I shall be full of business and perplexity while here, as the 
Synod has appointed me Secretary — it is a very laborious busi- 
ness.* I hope to return on Wednesday, so as to give me Thurs- 
day to finish my lecture on Poetry in the evening. 

Harper's Ferry, A.ug. 4, 1848. 

I am here — a place which Jefferson said was worth a trip 
across the ocean to see. I rose this morning early to see the sun 
rise over the mountains, and as the rosy morn flushed with a 
golden radiance the summit of the hoary mount, I thought of 
Coleridge, who, as he stood in the vale of Chamouny, looking 
up at the sky-pointing Alps, exclaimed: " Who sunk thy sun- 
less pillars deep in earth?" etc. 

My soul was filled with silent praise as I stood at the base of 
the mountain and looked up to its top, all sparkling in the 
morning sun. There was something profoundly humiliating, 

* The Doctor had the misfortune to lose a good portion of his niann- 
script, and parts of the Proceedings were made up and lorinted from . 
memory.— J. G. 31, 



50 THE STORK FAMILY IN THE LUTHERAN CHURCH. 

and yet sublimely elevating, in the thought that I through 
Christ was permitted to feel myself a child of Him, "who look- 
eth upon the mountains and they tremble, and toucheth the hills 
and they smoke," and, with filial endearment and trust, to look 
up through all the beauties and sublimities of nature, and say, 
'*My Father made them all. Behold what manner of love the 
Father hath bestowed on us, that we should be called sons of 
God.*' 

Baltimore, August 22, 1848. 
Sabbath : I was detained up the country ; went to church in 
a most rttired part of Baltimore county, enjoyed the Sabbath 
very much. In the evening I went to a Methodist church ; the 
minister did not come, the members conducted a prayer- meeting. 
An old Israelite got up and gave out the hymn — "A charge to 
keep I have," etc. He made some very simple remarks, and my 
heart melted, and I wept. Then they sang — *' When I can read 
my title clear," etc., to a good old tune. I could stand it no 
longer ; I rose from my seat, and went forward to the man con- 
ducting the meeting and told him I wonld like to say something. 
I felt an irresistible impulse to speak something of Jesus to the 
people. I spoke, I believe, nearly three quarters of an hour 
with tears and affection. One of Dr. Plumer's members from 
the city was out staying at the same hotel with me. He told 
me afterwards, it was one of the happiest meetings he was ever 
at — that he wept like a chdd all the time, and that all around 
him were bathed in tears. It seemed to me that God moved me 
to go to that meeting and to speak. I felt as if I coulel never tire 
of speaking to people of the wonders of redeeming love yester- 
day. I had a long talk with a poor old negro man about the 
Saviour. He was very ignorant, but I tried to urge him to seek 
Jesus by turning from all his sins, and loving Him with all his 
heart. He seemed very much affected, and promised me to be- 
gin to pray that night. I assure you, dearest, I would rather 
be the poorest minister of Jesus than to be.emperor of the world. 
I believe I felt a thrill of pleasure and sublimity of joy beside 
that old negro man, such as no earthly distinction or glory could 
ever impart. 



REV. THEOPHILUS STORK, D. D. 51 

In 1850, he was a member of the General Synod, 
which met in Charleston, S. C, and this is the proper 
place to insert the following : 

LETTER TO MRS. STORK. 

Charleston, April 27, 1850. 
The fresh and balmy breathing of the ocean, and the songs of 
the morning birds, remind me that I am writing to my wife, 
from the sunny South. But you are anxious to know about our 
trip, and the first impressions of Charleston. I felt sad after 
leaving you, lest you should be lonely when I was gone. And 
yet you appeared so happy that I was reconciled to what was 
before me. At Washington we met twelve or thirteen of our 
ministers on their way to Synod, and with such company the 
hours fled as rapidly as the rolling cars. We traveled all day 
and night. At Wilmington, N". C, we took the steamboat, 
about two o'clock p. m., on Thursday. From this point we had 
one hundi-ed and sixty miles on the ocean. This was unex- 
pected by me. It was a glorious sail upon the ocean. It was 
moonlight, and everything above us and around us was rich and 
vocal with the glory of G-od. Some of the brethren wished me 
whilst standing upon the upper deck, with the gorgeous heavens 
above us pearled round with glittering stars, and the hoar 
ocean, with its wild waste of waters and eternal roar, was roll- 
ing beneath and around us — under these circumstances, the 
brethren wished me to repeat that sublime apostrophe to the 
ocean, by the English bard, beginning, 

*' Roil on, thou deep and. dark blue ocean, roll .... 
Thou glorious mirror where the Ahiiij^hty 's form 
Glasses itself in tempests," etc. 

And then that couplet in which the poet expresses the un- 
changeableness of the ocean, I think one of the finest specimens 
of the truly poetical : 

" Time writes no wrinkles on thy azure brow ; 
As creation's dawn beheld thee, thou rollest now." 

It was to me a night of unusual enjoyment : my soul seemed 
to expand and swell with devout astonishment and praise at the 



52 THE STORK FAMILY IN THE LUTHERAN CHURCH. 

wonderful works of the Lord. I felt the insignificance of man 
in the presence of these outshadowings of the Almighty, and 
yet an unspeakable delight, yea, ecstasy in the thought, "My 
Father made them all." 

But yet there is only a step often from the sublime to the 
ridiculous. When the passengers began to feel that strange im- 
pulse from within to pay their devotions to Neptune, it was 
ludicrous enough to all but the victims. After the early part of 
the evening passed, and I had been wrapped in thoughts and 
feelings such as described above, I was taken sick, and spent a 
miserable night. I was too sick almost to live. It was dread- 
ful : wearily passed the sleepless night ; the sea was rough, and 
the ship rolled and tossed upon the dashing billows. We ar- 
rived here about nine o'clock on Friday morning. 

FORMATION OF EAST PENNSYLVANIA SYNOD. 

When he settled in Philadelphia in 1841, there was 
but one Lutheran Synod in that State east of the Sus- 
quehanna. The proceedings at the meetings were for the 
most part conducted in the German language, which some 
of the young clergy did not clearly understand ; but this 
of itself would not have been regarded as a sufficient 
ground for a division. 

A "Broadside," with the title of "Thoughts on the 
Formation of a New Synod in the Eastern District of 
Pennsylvania " (said to have been written by Prof. 
Reynolds), was circulated, which contained what were re- 
garded as very strong reasons for the proposed measure.* 

The first meeting for the purpose of considering the 
expediency of forming this new Synod was held in Lan- 
caster, May 2, 1842, during the meeting of the parent 

* This document has become very scarce, but a copy may be 
consulted in the rooms of the Historical Society, Gettysburg. 



REV. THEOPHILUS STORK, D. D. 53 

Synod, afc which ten ministers and three laymen were 
present. A memorial to the Synod of Pennsylvania was 
adopted and presented, but the Synod resolved that 
" they would in nowise consent to a division of this body, 
but should any brethren consider it desirable to separate 
from us, an honorable dismission shall be given them as 
individuals^ if they so request." 

Upon this action of the mother Synod, nine ministers 
and two lay delegates withdrew to the lecture-room, when 
the Evangelical Lutheran Synod of East Pennsylvania 
was organized, and all provision was made for a perma- 
nent constitution and all other features of a regularly- 
constituted ecclesiastical body. 

It was resolved to meet as a new Synod in Lebanon,* 
on September 15, 1842. At the first regular meeting 
eleven ministers and four lay delegates were recognized 
as members. 

At this meeting a communication to the President of the 
new Synod from the President of the Synod of Pennsyl- 
vania was submitted to a committee, which animadverted 
sharply on its spirit and contents. This of course gave 
offence to the old Synod, which, with other presumed or 
real grievances, led it to refuse the reception of the del- 
egate of the new Synod to the old, and this delegate was 
Dr. Stork himself. 

At the next meeting of the new Synod he presented a re- 
port conveyed in moderate and conciliatory language, al- 
though he considered the treatment as very harsh. The 
action of the Synod upon his report was anything but re- 

*It was afterwards changed to Pikeland, Chester county. 



54 THE STORK FAMILY IN THE LUTHERAN CHURCH. 

taliatorj, but the breach was widened, and a long con- 
troversy ensued. 

I dwell so long upon these facts for the purpose of 
showing Dr. Stork's connection with them, for he subse- 
quently bore a conspicuous part in the protracted news- 
paper discussion, and thus brought upon himself the 
severe condemnation of some influential men. But time 
heals many feuds, and before Dr. Stork died he had the 
happiness of seeing the revival of a more fraternal feel- 
ing between the two Synods, as well as between individ- 
ual members of them. 

As early as 184:9, Mr. Stork became dissatisfied with 
the location of his church in New street, although the 
congregation was large and the Sunday-school flourishing. 
Some of the members had moved to the northwestern 
section of the city, where there was no Lutheran church, 
and the expediency of establishing one was considered. 
The result was the purchase of a lot on Spring Garden 
street, near Thirteenth, and the erection of a splendid 
house of worship, surmounted by a very tall spire. 

He resigned his pastorship of St. Matthew's on August 
1, 1850, after eight years' service, and entered upon his 
duties as pastor of St. Mark's, as it was called. 

He was succeeded at St. Matthew's by Rev. Mr. Hut- 
ter. At the Synod of October, 1851, he reported a 
communion list of 120 members, which increased to 205 
in 1852. 

He resigned his pastorship of St. Mark's in the latter 
part of 1858 in answer to a call to the Presidency of 
Newberry College, S. C. ; and in the winter of 1859 he 



REV. THEOPHILUS STORK, D. D. 65 

proceeded to Newberry, S. C, arriving there on Febru- 
ary 22d. He at once entered upon his duties, but he 
was not inaugurated as President until the meeting of the 
Synod in the fall. Dr. J. A. Brown was Professor in 
the Theological department, and these two men, to some 
extent, interchanged their labors — Mr. Stork giving in- 
struction in Church History and some other theological 
subjects, while Dr. Brown rendered an equivalent in 
Greek in college. 

During his residence there, Mr. Stork was also elected 
pastor of the church in the village. He held this position 
for about six months. 

All my efforts to procure information concerning Dr. 
Stork's special labors and incidents during his brief resi- 
dence at Newberry, from residents, colleagues and 
students, have failed. 



CHAPTER IV. 

ORGANIZATION OF ST. AIARK's IN PHILADELPHIA — RETIREMENT 
FROM THE PULPIT FOR A YEAR — LETTERS — INCIDENTS. 

ORGANIZATION OF ST. MARK'S. 

THE following facts connected with the organization 
of St. Mark's are obligingly furnished by one who 
took an active part in the enterprise. 

Dr. Stork was unanimously elected pastor of St. Mat- 
thew's on July 19, 1841, and took charge of the church 
at a salary of $800 a year. His introductory sermon 
was on the words 1 Cor. ii. 2: "For I determine not to 
know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ and Him 
crucified," which he lived by example and precept all 
through his life. When he came to us, the Lutheran 
churches in Philadelphia were not in the most prosperous 
spiritual condition; but before long Mr. Stork infused 
new life and energy into St. Matthew's, and raised up a 
congregation of loving, devoted, useful Christian worship- 
pers. Through his influence and prayers, the Lord sent 
His Spirit among us. More than forty souls were added 
to the church, and from that time forward the congrega- 
tion flourished spiritually as well as financially. He 
organized Friday evening prayer- meetings, which were 
well attended; the next step was a Sunday morning 
prayer-meeting of young men, which resulted in much 
good. Many young men boldly and honestly came out 

(56) 



REV. THEOPHILUS STORK, D. D. 67 

as leaders in prayer. After two years of his ministry 
his wife died at Germantown, and he was left with two 
sons, Charles and William. This was a heavy affliction 
for our pastor, but he did not murmur against the decree 
of heaven, bui endured it w^ith calm Christian resignation. 
After the lapse of several years he married Miss Emma 
Baker, of Philadelphia, a most estimable, intelligent 
Christian lady. 

About the year 1844, Mr. Stork conceived the idea 
that the people of St. Matthew's should extend their 
borders in an effort to organize a Sunday-school in the 
northern section of the city, and several brethren were 
appointed to carry out the work. They met with en- 
couraging success, and within five years a very fine brick 
church was erected, and a very respectable congregation 
gathered, and all this was the result of Mr. Stork's un- 
tiring energy and fervent Christian zeal. 

In the beginning of the year 1850 he held a consulta- 
tion in reference to organizing a new enterprise in the 
western part of the city. An interest was at once awak- 
ened in it, and we agreed to call a meeting through the 
public papers, inviting all Lutherans and others who felt 
concerned to meet us. The first meeting was attended 
by twenty-four persons. The second call brought out a 
larger number. At this meeting a man and his wife, en- 
tire strangers to us all, met with us, and she was the only 
woman present. We made ourselves known to them, and 
treated them very politely. He told me that he had not 
been inside of a church for thirty years, but that he had 
noticed this call, and stranger as he was to us all, he had 



58 THE STORK FAMILY IN THE LUTHERAN CHURCH. 

determined to attend. The kindness we showed him im- 
pressed him deeply, and he resolved to cast his lot among 
us. He became one of our most active, useful and exem- 
plary members. 

Our first measure was to establish a Sunday-school in 
Brotherly Love Ilall. This was about March, 1850. 
The school continued to prosper until we moved into the 
lecture-room, which was consecrated on the second Sun- 
day of February, 1851, by Rev. Dr. B. Kurtz. 

From that time our school and church membership in- 
creased rapidly, and it was not until then that Mr. Stork 
was called to take charge of the church, although it was 
thus intended. The majority of the people of St. Mark's 
was made up of the district surrounding it ; a number of 
Methodists, a few Presbyterians, and one Roman Catholic, 
united with us. The number of families from St. Mat- 
thew's, the mother church, which joined us was not over 
twelve or thirteen, although the whole congregation gen- 
erously stood by and encouraged us ; the credit of finan- 
cial help principally belongs to St. Matthew's, although a 
portion of the funds also came from other sources. 

The church named St. Mark's was completed and con- 
secrated in the summer of 1851. All went on very 
smoothly until 1854, when Doctor Stork's health began 
to break down from overwork, and he resigned. Doctor 
Charles A. Smith was called to supply his place. In 
the course of a year or two, Doctor Stork's health was 
partially restored, and the congregation desired that he 
should return, and he yielded to their wishes. 

His standing as a minister among other ministers and 



REV. THEOPHILUS STORK, D. D. 59 

denominations was very high, and he was an eminently 
useful man. 

The following, without place or date or name of per- 
son addressed, evidently has reference to the new enter- 
prise of St. Mark's, in Philadelphia: 

Tuesday (no date). 
I must meet a committee of St. Mark's to-day. I feel that to 
unfold my heart to them would dispel the clouds that seem to 
hang over my soul. There is an unaccountable tendency to de- 
pression. The future is full of darkness. My only refuge is in 
God, and my soul is refreshed in the shadow of the Cross. 
After prayer this morning it seemed as if all my sadness were 
gone. I feel happy. I have such a clear conviction that God is 
going to take me through a school, for the disciplining of my 
spirit and the perfection of my Christian character. And even 
trials, and disappointments, and crosses, seem as blessings. I feel 
happy that, through even such a process, my proud heart may 
be humbled and my lofty imaginations be made low. Pray for 
me, that I may not only succeed in building up a new church 
for Christ, but in doing that I may gain a new heart, and my 
soul be renovated and purified, and made a temple indeed for 
Christ, beautified with salvation and adorned with all the grace 
of the Spirit. Tliis, I had such a sweet assurance this morning, 
is what the Lord is going to do, that I could not tell you the 
happiness I feel. 

LETTER TO HIS SON, THEN A STUDENT. 

Philadelphia. Nov. 14, 1854. 

Dear Charles ***** 

I am glad too, that you feci how unfit and unwothy you are 
in prospect of the holy office of the ministry. If you did not 
feel so, it would argue in you a want of a due estimate of the 
work, and would indeed evidence a moral unfitness for the min- 
istry. You say you cannot go alone. You are not required ; 
Jesus still says, " Lo, I am with you." You are nothing in your 
own strength, but you have God's truth, which is mighty, to 



60 THE STORK FAMILY IN THE LUTHERAN CHURCH. 

proclaim, and you have the promise of the Holy Ghost to give 
efficacy to that truth, and Jesus the Almighty Saviour, to be 
with you and help you in every time of need. I would raiher 
be the humblest minister in the land, to preach the gospel to 
perishing sinners. One soul won to Christ and heaven, is worth 
more than all the world, beside which the honors and wealth of 
the world are but weeds and rags. But never mind the future — 
only cultivate faith and love, and all piety and prayer, casting 
all your care upon God, and take no thought for the morrow. 
Improve your time both in the culture of the mind and the 
heart, and leave the rest to God. 

RETIREMENT FROM THE PULPIT FOR A YEAR. 

In the spring of 1854 he began to feel the efiects of 
constant and protracted labor, and he was advised by his 
physician to abandon his pulpit ministrations and pastoral 
work for a year, and engage in some employment which 
would compel him to live much of his time in the open 
air. He assumed an office most uncongenial to his tastes, 
against which his friends should have vehemently pro- 
tested. The idea that the poetical, the imaginative, the 
versatile Stork should have been content for a whole year 
to tie himself down to a subject of common facts and 
figures, and repeat them every Sunday, was absurd. 
However useful and important the cause may be, he was 
the last man in the world to be entrusted with it. The 
irksomeness of repetition was of itself enough to break 
him down ; and although he had a different audience every 
time he presented the subject, yet it was the same un- 
varying theme, and this palled upon his refined sensibil- 
ities. He had not the incentive of daily bread to stimu- 
late perseverance, nor the wants of the needy at home to 
urge him on to energetic action. Nor did the necessary 



KEY. TIIEOPHrLUS STOKK, D. D. 6l 

absence from home, which this work required, suit his 
domestic tastes or his habits of reading, or his sense of 
duty to those he loved to meet at the home fireside. He 
soon gave it up, a wiser if not a better man. We are 
not all fitted to all kinds of Christian work. Many a 
most efiicient tract society secretary would have been a3 
much out of place in Mr. Stork's pulpit as he was in the 
performance of the routine work of a secretary's office, 
or in the presentation of the same subject five or six times 
in a month. 

Rev. Charles A. Smith served St. Mark's for the year 
of Mr. Stork's unsatisfactory engagement with the Tract 
Society. He resumed the pastoral care of St. Mark's in 
the summer of 1855, and the following year he reported 
a communion list of 376 members. It was here also that 
the "New Measure" system, then so popular, was prac- 
ticed, and large numbers attended these extra meetings. 
He was highly esteemed by his own people, and gained 
the admiration of many who were not members of his 
church. 

He was not backward in promptly rebuking what he 
deemed unseemly conduct in the house of God, as we 
have already seen when speaking of him while yet a 
student, and a correspondent from Illinois communicates 
the following instance which is worthy of insertion. He 
thus writes : "On my first visit to Philadelphia, now thirty- 
three years ago, I sought out the then youthful congrega- 
tion of the popular preacher, Mr. Stork, in Spring Gar- 
den street. To my great disappointment another man 
preached, and closely read a long^ sermon, and the peo- 
4 



62 THE STORK FAMILY IN THE LUTHERAN CHURCH. 

pie seemed to be impatient, especially when Mr. Stork 
rose and began some announcements and general remarks 
relative to the church. The people became more uneasy 
and restive, indicating a desire to be dismissed without 
delay. This unbecoming manifestation roused him, and. 
he settled them down more quickly and effectually than I 
have ever seen before or since. He rose to his full height, 
and elevating his right hand, he exclaimed in ringing 
tones, 'You can sit in theatres and concerts till 11 or 12 
o'clock at night and show no signs of weariness, but when 
the unspeakable interests of your souls are being consid- 
ered, your patience is soon exhausted.' Immediately all 
was silent as death — no motion, no cough, not a stir — 
and he calmly proceeded to speak to a very attentive 
congregation." 

The following letter belongs to this period : 

Philadelphia, March 4th, 1856. 

I have an earnest desire to be a sincere and faithful minister 
of Jesus Christ. I think I have lost all aspiration for mere 
fame — it is but a bubble. But a true, a devoted disciple of 
Jesus, to be a faithful preacher of llis gospel, this is now the 
burning desire, the highest ambition of my heart. Pray for 
your unworthy husband. I say unworthy, because I feel such a 
painful consciousness that I am not worthy of the love of my 
friends, much less worthy of the infinite love of God. 

* -jt * * * * * 

I never had such deep self-abasement before God as in prayer 
last night, and yet the communion was sweet and reireshing. 

INCIDENTS. 

Doctor Stork had a brother who was a successful busi- 
ness man, and who wished him to become a lawyer, offer- 



REV. THEOPHILIIS STORK, D. D. 68 

ing to defray his expenses and to establish him in an 
office, but he felt his call to the ministry to be impera- 
tive. 

This brother at his death bequeathed to Doctor Stork 
and his sister, the only surviving members of the family, 
a large estate, but by some mischance little of it found 
its way to the pockets of either. 

A curious accident befell the little sum that came as 
the Doctor's share. The bank note was divided into two 
parts to be sent North, and each part was sent separately 
to avoid risk of loss. Through his carelessness one-half 
of the note got into the waste-basket, where the house- 
keeper found and rescued it. 

At another time, he made an engagement to preach in 
a church at one of our popular seaside resorts. The 
church was crowded ; all were waiting patiently for the 
sermon; but just at that moment the unfortunate 
preacher discovered that a stout brother had sat down 
upon his spectacles and smashed them. This was indeed 
a dilemma. But he was equal to the occasion, and per- 
formed his task, if not to his own comfort, at least to the 
satisfaction of all who listened to him. 

A cherished friend had presented liim with a neat dia- 
mond breastpin. He used to say : " You know how I 
feel about that pin." Well, he summoned courage to 
wear it once or twice. The last time was on a lecture 
occasion. He was about to rise up to speak when he 
suddenly remembered that pin, and what did he do, but 
snatch it out and put it into his vest pocket ? 

Usually, mornings and evenings were devoted to study 



64 THE STORK FAMILY IN THE LUTHERAN CHURCH. 

and writing, afternoons to pastoral visits. He was like an 
electric bell at the call of duty, so prompt and ready. 

It was often quite amusing to see his delight when he 
would say, "I have now settled all my debts," and even 
if not a cent remained in his house, he was content. He 
often said, we all had as much as we needed of this 
world's goods, and he was thankful for and satisfied with 
his allotment. He took great comfort in his children, 
and it was his pleasure to train and educate them for 
their life work. 

December, 1857. 

Dear Charlie : — I have received intelligence of the death of 
my only sister, Mrs. Brougher ; she died in the triumph of faith, 
exclaiming "Come, Lord Jesus, come quickly." All the mem- 
bers of my father's family are now in heaven except myself, and 
I hope hy the grace of God to meet them, and then we shall 
constitute a renewed family — no wanderer lost — a glorious 
hope.* 

*Mrfj. B . lived m Mississippi. Students of Pennsylvania 

CoUege in 1841-46, may remember a tall young Southerner in college 
of this name. He was the son of the lady here spoken of, and of 
course the nephew of Mr. Stork. There could not have heen more 
than 10 years or so difference in their ages. It surprises some to hear 
that a young man all the way from Mississippi, very distant at that 
day, should come to Gettysburg to college. But his father was one of 
the first subscribers to the Lutheran Observer in its beginning, and al- 
ways cherished a warm interest in the church and sent his son all the 
waj- to Gettysburg to school. 



CHAPTER V. 

PRESIDENT OF NEWBERRY COLLEGE — REASONS FOR ACCEPTING 
— LETTERS TO HIS WIFE — HIS EXPERIENCE AND TRIALS — HIS 
HEALTH FAILS — VISIT TO THE NORTH— LETTERS — RESOLVES 
NOT TO RETURN — DR. STORK AS AN OBSERVER OF THE LORD's 
DAY— LETTERS. 

PRESIDENCY OF NEWBEREY COLLEGE. 

THERE was a college, as well as a theological semi- 
inary established at Newberry, South Carolina. In 
1858, neither was provided with a President. Both insti- 
tutions were governed by the same Trustees, and they 
earnestly urged Dr. Stork to cast in his lot with theirs, 
and allowed him the privilege of assuming either position, 
deeming him well qualified for both. He preferred the 
college Presidency and accepted the call. He did not like 
to give up the pulpit, and it was the universal opinion of 
his friends that the pulpit was his legitimate place. They 
knew he could preach, but they doubted whether he 
could manage a school. They doubted also whether the 
monotony of carrying out the old-fashioned college cur- 
riculum would suit his tastes, always concerned about the 
inspiring and the new. 

But his health began to be seriously impaired about 
this time, and a painful nervousness, occasioned by an ac- 
cident, induced him to believe that a residence in the 
South would be beneficial. 

(65) 



Q6 THE STORK FAMILY IN THE LUTHERAN CHURCH. 

The following letter from a member of his family is 
pertinent. It may be interesting to know the circum- 
stances which led to Dr. Stork's acceptance of the Presi- 
dency of Newberry College, South Carolina. His health 
received a severe shock — the result of an accident during 
his summer sojourn in Chesnut Hill — which is detailed 
in the following letter : 

LETTER RELATING TO NEWBERRY. 

Philadelphia, Nov. 5, 1858. 

My Deur Charles : I am happy to find you so responsive to my 
suggestions in relation to the South. I feel a longing for some 
position in which I could prosecute my studies, and at the same 
time be devoted to the church and the glory of God. Such a 
position is now offered to me, and I feel disposed to accept it. 
It will cost a painful struggle to break the bonds that bind me 
liere. But having my whole family with me, I think I should be 
perfectly happy almost anywhere. T expect to go South next 
week and view the place and property, and after my return 
will decide the matter. Let us pray, Charles, that God may 
guide us in this important decision. *****^*-?fr 
Yours in the bonds of fatherly love, T. Stork. 

Nov. 22. 

P. S. — I have been to the S()uth. I was delighted with almost 
everything. The town of Newberry is a very pleasant place. 
The college buikling is beautiful. They will have nearly $50,000 
endowment and the building paid for — a fair beginning. They 
expect a large number of students. They want an assistant in 
the preparatory department by the first of January. How would 
you like the position ? You can get it if you want it. Let me 
know your feelings about gohig South. It is a hard struggle 
for me to decide. How can I leave my people ? If I knew the 
Lord's will I would not hesitate one moment. Write to us soon, 
and give us your opinion . If I go I wish to have my whole 
family. Newberry has the best society in South Carolina, and 
that is saying a good deal. 



REV. THEOPHILUS STORK, D. D. 67 

]\rotlier lias been poorly. Physicians think a Southern climate 
would be advantageous to her. Write. Mother and Willie send 
their love to you. Yours affectionately, T. S. 

LETTERS TO HIS WIFE. 

Newberry, January 26, 1859. 
Dearest : I have been trying to live near to the Cross — with 
Jesus abiding in me — I do hunger and thirst after righteousness. 
That text, the other morning, has subdued me to humility and 
tears before God. "As the Father hath loved me, so have I 
loved you" — O the height and depth of the love of Jesus — O that 
I could feel my soul filled with this love — Emma, pray for me. 
My highest ambition now is to be a true, devoted living servant of 
Jesus, that Christ may be all in all. Last night the Phrena- 
kosmian Society of College had an exhibition in College 
chapel. The college was lit up — fine effect — the chapel was 
crowded. If I had not known where I was, I might have 
supposed myself at Concert Hall ; as fine a set of ladies and 
gentlemen as I ever saw in a Philadelphia concert. It was 
beautiful — performers all German. The speaking was highly 
creditable, students all well dressed, and I felt proud of New- 
berry College. 

Newberry, May 24, 1859. 
Charles tries to help me, and when any of the Professors are 
unwell he takes their iDlace. He heard the Greek class for Mr. 
Brown. He was delighted with him. Mr. Brown says he can 
recommend him fully for the Greek professorship . He will have 
only Greek. He will have time to finish his theological studies 
and preach on the Sabbath. He is very much pleased with 
Newberry. 

Friday Evening. 
We had an excellent meeting on Wednesday night. There 
was a good deal of solemnity — O, that the Lord would come into 
our midst and revive His work — O, that the many careless and 
impenitent sinners here might be brought to Jesus 1 



68 THE STORK FAMILY IN THE LUTHERAN CHURCH. 

Newbeery, S. C, May 9, 1859. 

1 was 14 miles in the country. Had an immense gathering. 
The people everywhere received me with the most cordial greet- 
ing, and so far as they can help, will sustain our Institution. I 
came across a man settled in life — with four children — who feels 
called to preach the Gospel. He is wealthy, with a splendid 
plantation, and everything around him in the most comfortable 
style. But, he says, he must give up all for Christ, and I be- 
lieve he will come to our Institution and study several years. 
Mr. Brown and I have begun our protracted meetings here. 
Preaching every night this week, and communion next Sabbath. 
With our other duties this is pretty hard work ; I feel exhausted 
at night. Pray the Lord for our meeting, that some souls may 
be given to the Saviour. 

College buildings are paid for. About $50,000 endowment. 
One hundred and ticenty s^m(?^/?^6'— quite a numbtr of talented 
and promising young men. 

Tlieolo(jical Seminary. — Four theological students in actual 
preparation, four or five in college who are looking forward to 
the ministry. The Seminary has an endowment of its own of 
$23,000. I have letters informing me of a large number of stu- 
dents from Charleston, Georgia, and Mississippi, for next fall. 

Newberry, S. C, May 31, 1859, 
We had our second communion yesterday. There was a 

crowded church and great solemnity The Lord was 

with us. There are many "in this community deeply impressed. 
On Sunday morning, after church, I felt prompted to go and 
visit a very genteel-looking colored man who had been attending 
all our meetings. I found him concerned about his salvation, 
and I spolie to him of Jesus and salvation. He was deeply 
moved, and promised to give his entire attention to the deliver- 
ance of his soul We now have morning and evening 

prayers in the chapel. This new feature in the college gives 

new interest to our daily duties I am kei)t very busy 

from morning to night. I have so many speeches and essays to 
criticise that my hands are full. 



REV. THEOPHILUS STORIC, D. D. 69 

Newberry, S. C, June 8, 1859. 

Things proceed rather monotonously here — in the outer workl ; 
the inner world of thought and feeling is in constant change. 
Ill my daily studies novelties present themselves at every step. 
In my religious experience I trust that daily there is to my soul 
some new phase of the Divine love. Here, after all, is the only 
tiue and satisfying portion. The man is truly blessed who can 
say from a sincere heart, and joyfully: "Whom have I in heaven 
but Thee, and there is none upon earth that I desire beside 
Thee." 

By the way, Charles preached on Sunday night, on the text — 
"Seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, etc," 
It was a beautiful, I may say masterly, production. He wrote 
it in a very short time, sitting in my study. Mr. Brown is very 

much taken with Charles He has very refined feelings, 

and seems devotional — in reading the Scriptures and in secret 
prayer. He will think for himself, and will not be governed by 
the opinions of persons who are swayed by prejudices. 

Newberry, S. C, June 15, 1859. 

I believe this separation, though painful, will do me good. 
Yes, it has done me good, I feel drawn to the Lord — to my 
Saviour — in my loneliness, and I can, in some humble way, say 
as Jesus : "x\nd yet I am not alone, for the Father is with me," 
I long for that perfect love which casteth out fear ; for that joy- 
ous assurance — that abiding in Christ — that conscious oneness 
with Christ — that I may always be happy, feeling that whether 
living or dying I am the Lord's. O, that I could reach the spirit- 
ual attitude of Paul, when he said : " For me to live is Christ, 
and to die is gain. ' ' 

We had a hard week— I mean the last. We preached every 
night, and employed the intervals of the day not engaged in col- 
lege, in visiting the people and talking to them on the subject 
of religion. The Lord has answered our prayers and blessed 
our labors. On Sabbath the church was overflowing — the gal- 
leries, usually appropriated to the blacks, were half devoted to 
the white people for want of room below. Seventeen persons 
were added to the church. There is, I believe, quite a religious 
4* 



70 THE STORK FAMILY IN THE LUTHERAN CHURCH. 

interest in the community. Indeed, we had quite a Pentecostal 
season. O unite with me in praising the Lord for His goodness, 
and for His wonderful works to us and this little church. 

Next Sabbath I go down to St. Paul's to preach. We think 
of having another meeting here, and communion. You see I 
have enough to do ; yes, there is a great work to be done here. 
Pray for me. 

He finally concluded that his impaired health would 
not permit him to remain at Newberry, and he determined 
to leave. Ilis family was not with him at the time, as the 
following letters will show ; but whether they remained 
in Newberry or were in Philadelphia, does not appear from 
the copies of the letters which were put into my hands.. 
Neither is the date of his leaving Newberry given. 

Leesburg, April 24, 1860. 
Well, here 1 am at last after a weary and exhaustive tour. 
Had I known all the discomforts of such atrip, I should not have 
left Newberry in sucli a state of health. I suffered more the last 
week than during the three weeks of my previous sickness. I 
staid in Raleigh on Friday night and met a friend from Phila- 
delphia. Saturday, I went to Richmond and remained over 
Sabbath. I was not able to go further ; besides, I could not 
have reached Washington without breaking in upon the Lord's 
day, and you know I am a strict observer of that day. I felt 
very lonely in a city with no acquaintance or friends ; indeed, I 
thought at one time during the day, that I must give up to die, 
my respiration was so difficult. I committed myself to Jesus, 
and He brought me through. I went to church and heard a 
sermon on the "love of Christ passing knowledge." Oh ! it was 
precious to me, the love of Jesus ! I could say from my heart, 
" Had I ten thousand hearts, O, Lord Jesus, I'd give them all to 
Thee." In the momentary ecstasy of my feelings, I forgot all 
about my poor lungs, and seemed to breathe the air of heaven, 
and to see Jesus whom my soul loveth ; and I felt, O, if I get well 
again how I should like to preach ; 



REV, THEOPHILUS STORK, D. D. 71 

" To tell poor sinners all around, 
What a dear Saviour I have found." 

On Monday, I went on to Washington. My friends think I 
should not go back to South Carolina this session. It is not 
likely I shall be able to resume my duties before next fall. I 
feel much relieved and breathe more naturally. I slept well 
and feel refreshed. The doctor whom I consulted in Washing- 
ton said there was a tendency to congestion of the lungs, but if 
I am careful it would pass away. He says I must avoid excite- 
ment and speaking for a time, as my heart was implicated by 
sympathy. 

Leesburg, April 30, 1860. 
Thanks to the Lord, He has healed our diseases. I hope we 
are both better. I bless the Lord I caji say to you I am better. 
But since I began taking medical advice here I have been im- 
proving. My chest is very weak — my right lung is laboring 
under some difficulty. The doctors all agree that it is in part 
from the fall — there is a painful weakness in that lung, and I 
fear I shall never be myself fully again. I have had a serious 
time on Friday night ; I was in such a nervous condition, 
trembling, palpitation of heart, that I thought my time was 
come. I have rested sweetly in Jesus. He is my strength and 
portion, O, what a Saviour, for life and death ! 

His allusion in the preceding letter to his observance 
of the Lord's day renders the insertion of the following, 
from his wife, proper at this place : 

In Dr. Stork's home-life, reverence for holy things, and a strict 
regard for the holy Sabbath, were marked. At tlie family altar, 
and at meals, his prayers were always earnest and devout ; levity 
and trifling were instantly cfi^ked, although cheerfulness and 
considerateness for all around him prevailed. It is remembered 
that on a little excursion to Chesnut Hill he, with a few friends, 
visited one of our churches. Some of the lively sisters mounted 
into the pulpit and began sounding out their voices. Dr. Stork 
at once testified his disapprobation to the irreverence in the holy 



72 THE STORK FAMILY IN THE LUTHERAN CHURCH. 

place. The rebuke ay as uever forgotten. With him the sanctity 
of the Sabbath was an imperative duty. He disliked to have 
milk even served on Sunday, and he endeavored to change the 
custom and give the milkmen opportunity of attending church. 
Also household work — he objected to have pavements swept oft' 
on Sunday, chiefly on account of several families around him, 
who were careless in their observance of the Day of Rest. It 
was remarkable in one of his genial and impulsive temperament, 
and the young son, Charles, would come smiling, and say : 
"Father is having a good time with his friends — how they do 
enjoy themselves — how happy these ministers are.** 

No interruption was ever allowed to prevent family prayers ; 
no hurry of travel or business caused a neglect of this daily duty. 
It was a powerful magnet, drawing his children in fondest af- 
fection to him, and indeed his entire household. As his health 
became more impaired, it was pitiable to see his disappointment 
and his distress when he was unable to attend Divine service. 
It was a heart-break when his physicians told him he must give 
up preaching — that meant death to his ardent soul. He vvas 
most submissive and patient, and said: "Doctor, my work is 
done.'''' His end was peace; his entrance into glory was almost 
visible, as his countenance beamed with the glad transition as he 
changed from the mortal to the immortal. One of the watchers 
said '.''lie sees Jesus'' — such a liglit shone upon his face as the 
spirit left the casket. 

It is nowhere stated when he arrived at home from 
the South, nor where he spent the summer. The fol- 
lowing letter will show where he was in November : 

LiTiTZ, November 2, 1860. 
I am tried. I fear my friends think me too fickle — but I have 
always had to contend with a teeble constitution, axid you 
know what a trial it is to w^ork with mind and body, when 
both are languid and enfeebled. I want to work, and will work 
while I have strength. I wish to spend and be spent in the 
service of my Lord and Saviour, I Ijelicve the Lord will open 



REV. TnEOPIITLUS STORK, D. D. 73 

new places where I can win souls to Christ, and His blessing 
still rest upon my feeble labors. The time is short, and we 
should be willing, in selt-denial, to work while it is called to- 
day. Though often sad, have had i^recious seasons of com- 
munion with God in Christ. 

I had quite a return of my difficulty of respiration, keeping 
me from sleep. It is strange that the pain in my back and the 
difficulty of breathing come together. I have suffered from 
both this week. But there is no no use waiting to get perfectly 
well — I must go to work. I promised, to be in Baltimore on 
"Wednesday or Thursday night and preach for them on Sunday. 
I think I should prefer the Ohseri'er on your account as well as 
my own. 

I have just received a letter from Brother Hutter informing 
me of the departure of Dr. Baker.* A-las ! such a life ! For 
him, there is nothing to regret ; he was a good and faithful 
man ; his work is done, and he has gone to live with Jesus, 
which is far better . . .' . . This news has somewhat saddened 



DR. STORK REFUSES TO PRIJST A VOLUME OF HIS SERMONS. 

Among his papers I found the following scrap faintly 

written in pencil : 

A minister from the interior of the State wishes to know 
whether I could not publish a volume of my sermons. 

1. I say emphatically, No ! I have scarcely a single sermon 
that I could publish without re-writing. I never wrote my ser- 
mons fully out. I left open places for extempore speaking and 
illustrations. 

2. I think my correspondent is mistaken about the present 
good they might accomplish. It is one thing to hear a sermon 
from the pulpit, and another to read it. When you take away 
the man, the voice, the occasion, the congregation, there may 
not be much left, at least not enough to justify putting it in 

*ror many years a Lutheran minister in Lancaster, but removed to 
Philadelphia, where he died in 1860. 



74 THE STORK FAMILY IN THE LUTHERAN CHURCH, 

print. I remember that once a minister asked me to let him 
read a sermon which I had preached in his presence. In return- 
ing? it he said : " I thought it was a very fine sermon when I heard 
it, but I find it is not much after all." 

3. I have now a pulpit to fill in our Monthly,* and all my time 
is taken up in writing and gathering material for that journal. 

I am sorry that I must difter from the brother, and hope he 
will subscribe for the Monthly and circulate it among his peo- 
ple, instead of wishing a volume of my sermons. 

A friend of Dr. Stork's requests me to insert the fol- 
lowing fact: "The Doctor once preached a sermon on 
the authenticity and evidence of the Bible, and the house 
was crowded by people from diiferent churches, who were 
so well pleased that many of my Scotch Presbyterian 
friends asked to have it repeated. With many other in- 
terested parties we prevailed on him, and it was repeated 
with more additional evidence, and the house was jammed." 

Another little incident we recall to mind : The Doc- 
tor happened to meet one of his charge who seemed to 
be very much excited about some incident that troubled 
him, and in his excitement used some naughty words, 
when the doctor kindly remonstrated with him for giving 
way to his temper. The man turned and looked at the 
Doctor, " Why," said he, " Dr. Stork, I have controlled 
more temper in one week than you have controlled in 
your life time. Why, Doctor, you never had a temper 
to control." 

*He was editor of the Lutheran Home Journal.— 3. G. M. 



CHAPTER VI. 

REMOVAL TO BALTIMORE — HISTORY OF ST. MARK's — LETTER — 
STATE OF HIS HEALTH — HIS SON CHARLES HIS ASSISTANT — 
LETTER OF THE COUNCIL — LETTERS — RESIGNATION — RETIRES 
TO PHILADELPHIA — MISSIONARY ENTERPRISE — CLOSE OP HIS 
PASTORAL WORK — LETTERS. 

REMOVAL TO BALTIMORE IN 1860. 

THE First English Lutheran church in Baltimore, then 
located in Lexington street, between Howard and 
Park, became vacant by the resignation of the pastor, 
J. G. ^lorris, in June, 1860. Immediate steps were 
taken to elect a successor, and the two principal candi- 
dates were Dr. Stork, of Philadelphia, and Dr. McCron, 
of the Third Lutheran church, on Monument street, 
Baltimore. Twenty-two ballotings were held before 
either received a constitutional majority ; but after a long 
and rather excited struggle, Dr. McCron was elected as 
a temporary supply by a small majority. 

One hundred and one of the members were dissatisfied 
with this result and withdrew, upon which Dr. McCron 
was chosen permanent pastor by those w^ho remained. 

On October 23, 1860, those who separated themselves 
from the First church held a meeting in the lecture 
room of the Second Lutheran church on Lombard street, 
when one hundred and thirteen persons signed a paper 
declaring their purpose to unite in the organization of a 
new English Lutheran church. 

(75) 



76 THE STORK FAMILY IN THE LUTHERAN CHURCH. 

A provisional Church Council was appointed, and also 
a committee to invite the Rev. Dr. Stork to become 
pastor of the new organization about to be formed. 

After the adjournment of ihe meeting, the committee 
met at the house of Dr. Kemp, when it was determined 
that there should be no delay in perfecting the new enter- 
prise, and measures were taken to secure a place of wor- 
ship immediately. In a few days thereafter, the Com- 
mittee succeeded in renting the Third Presbyterian 
church in Eutaw street. The Sunday morning and 
Wednesday evening service was determined to be a joint 
one between the Lutherans and Presbyterians. The 
Sunday evening was to be exclusively Lutheran, and the 
lecture room on Sunday afternoons was free for the 
Lutheran Sunday-school. 

Under this arrangement, the first service of the con- 
gregation was held on Sunday evening, November 4, 
1860. Rev. Dr. Morris, late pastor of the First church, 
preached on Gen. xxiv. 56 — Hinder me not, seeing the 
Lord hath prospered my way. 

Dr. Stork was notified of his unanimous election 
November, 1860, and was urgently requested to accept 
it. To the unspeakable gratification of all the members, 
he gave his consent, and he took charge as pastor on 
December 1, 1860. 

The Presbyterian church on Eutaw street was bought 
for $10,500, and full possession of it was taken by the 
congregation in February, 1861. 

Dr. Stork now entered upon a new field of labor, and 
one of peculiar difficulty and uncertain success. True, 



EEV. THEOPIIILUS STOKK, D. D. 77 

he had a faithful and devoted membership of over one 
hundred, but they had just purchased a house of worship 
at a sum which would perhaps be a burden for years — it 
required a considerable outlay to renovate it, and super- 
added to this were the support of the minister and the 
other expenses of maintaining the Avorship. 

But the people had full confidence in the ability and 
piety of their pastor, and in reliance upon God, they 
prayerfully and resolutely engaged in the work. 

Dr. Stork fully answered their expectations, and 
the congregation gradually grew. Their church council 
were men of energy and prudence ; the ladies of the 
church were active and persevering ; their Sunday-school, 
under the efficient superintendence of the veteran Dr. 
Kemp ; the sympathy of the Second and Third churches ; 
the cordial good will of other evangelical congregations 
in the city, all cheered this new organization with the 
hope of ultimate success. 

The pastor soon secured the confidence of many of the 
city ministers, with whom he cooperated in every good 
work. His amiable disposition, refined manners and 
godly life gained him friends everywhere, and he soon 
attained a high rank among all who had the good fortune 
to know him. He was chosen a member of the boards of 
management of various religious societies, and showed a 
lively interest in their work. He was at different times 
invited to address these societies at their anniversary 
meetings. 

The following letter belongs to this period : 



78 THE STORK FAMILY IN THE LUTHERAN CHURCH. 

Baltimore, November 21, 18G1. 

I have been very bappy for the last three or four days. I 
think after a great spiritual conflict — after much prayer — I am 
now peacefully sitting at the feet of Jesus, resigned to His will, 
ready to suffer for His sake, or to be used in any way for His 
glory. I feel very happy in the thought that God is chastening 
me, and is determined to make me more humble and holy. He 
is touching me in some of my weak points (such as ambition, 
love of distinction), and taking away the occasions of pride and 
self-glory, and making me to glory only in Christ. O, if only 
this results from my trials -I will praise the Lord. For I do 
feel a yearning to be holy — to be entirely devoted to the Lord — 
and to rejoice in hope of the glory of God. If only I can be 
settled, I shall be truly happy. Now that I am fully resigned 
to tlie Lord, I feel that He will bless us. Our church is getting 

on well I see some signs of good — here and there the 

truth is having effect, and I think we shall have some souls for 
Christ. Glory to God ! 



His health suffered from his arduous labors and anxi- 
eties, and on February 21, 1862, he thus wrote to the 
council : 

Owing to a chronic affection of my throat and great nervous 
excitability, I am usually exhausted by one service on the Sab- 
bath. The second is generally arduous and prostrating. 

From my past experience, I am led to believe that I ought 
not to preach more than once on the Sabbath, and that a per- 
sistence in two services will shorten the period of my ministerial 
activity. In view of these facts, I desire an assistant. At 
present, I have become assistant editor of the Lutheran Observer, 
partly with the view of securing an assistant without any addi- 
tional expense to the church. I shall thus be able to serve the 
church in an extension of her usefulness and the cause of truth 
and righteousness, xlnd if the proposed arrangement meets 



REV. THEOPHILUS STORK, D. D. 79 

with yovir approbation, it will be a grand relief to my mind, as 
well as enable me, I believe, to prolong my active service in the 
church and also to be useful through the instrumentality of the 
religious press. I submit the matter to your prayerful consid- 
eration, hoping that you will act deliberately, and do what in 
your honest judgment will promote the best interests of the 
church. 

Tliis proposition was acceded to, and at the same meet- 
ing the Rev. Charles A. Stork was nominated for the 
position and unanimously approved. It was submitted 
to a congregational meeting on February 26, 1862, and 
ratified by all present. It was understood that Dr. 
Stork generously agreed to pay the salary of his assistant 
out of his own funds. 

HIS RESIGNATION. 

For three years this joint pastorship was happily and 
successfully maintained, when finally Dr. Stork was re- 
luctantly compelled to resign his position, which he did 
in a very touching letter on May 25, 1865. 

Among other things, he says to the Council: 

I can assure you that this step has cost me much painful and 
tearful regret, for my connection with the church has been one 
of almost unmhigled pleasure and satisfaction. 

I have received from the people the most gratifying tokens 
of confidence and affection. I cainiot recall a single instance of 
unkindness to shade the pleasant memories of the last five years. 
We have labored together in mutual sympathy and affection in 
the building up of the church and the extension of the Redeem- 
er's kingdom, and the Lord has crowned our united labors with 
His richest blessing. I shall ever hold the people of St. Mark's 
in grateful remembrance, and cherish my association with the 
church among the most pleasant memories of the past. 



80 THE STORK FAMILY IN THE LUTHERAN CHURCH. 

From this expression of my feelings, you may easily sup- 
pose tliat this step is taken with great reluctance and sincere 
sorrow. It has been taken from considerations of health ; my 
inability to assume the entire labors of the charge, and my con- 
viction that the best and permanent interests of the church will 

be promoted by the r.ndivided labors of one pastor 

Allow me to assure the council that I shall always feel the deep- 
est interest in the prosperity of St. Mark's 

The feelings here expressed by Dr. Stork were heartily 
reciprocated by the entire congregation, and the parting 
was mutually sad. But the acceptance of the resignation 
was unavoidable, for none of the causes given for this 
course by the pastor could be removed. Complete cessation 
from all pastoral work, especially owing to his increas- 
ingly distressing bronchial affection, was absolutely essen- 
tial to the preservation of his life. 

If there had been no prospect of an acceptable imme- 
diate successor, the difficulty and the embarrassment of 
the separation would have been enhanced, but his accom- 
plished and popular son, Charles, was his assistant, and 
ready to assume all the duties so ably and satisfactorily 
performed by his distinguished father. 

The son was immediately nominated by the council, 
which was unanimously ratified at a congregational meet- 
ing held on June 14th, 1865. 

The reply of the council to Dr. Stork's letter of resig- 
nation is here inserted in part : 

Baltimoke, July 5, 1865. 

Rev. and Dear Sir : Your resignation as pastor of St. Mark's 

. . . tendered a few weeks since, having gone into effect on the 

1st instant, the Church Council, in behalf of those whom it is 

their honor and pleasure to represent, beg leave to express to 



REV. THEOPHILUS STORK, D. D. 81 

you their profoimd regret in sundering a tie so endearing as that 
which has bound us together for nearly five years as pastor and 
people. Our hearts are too full to calmly sit down and call up 
in memory the many pleasing incidents of the past — your min- 
istrations in the pulpit every Lord's day, at the weekly meeting, 
in the schools of the church, at our homes, in every-day life — 
without feeling overwhelmed and heart-sick in view of the sepa- 
ration. 

We can only reconcile ourselves to the event by accepting it as 
the ordering of the Great Disposer of all things, and humbly 
pray that it may be sanctified to your good and ours. 

We separate as we came together, of one mind and one heart, 
determined to press on vigorously and trustingly with our new 
pastor in building up St. Mark's, praying that the Master will 
bestow upon his labors the same blessing and success which He 
vouchsafed to his predecessor. 

You bear away with you our most ardent wishes for your own 
and your family's welfare ; and if, in the inscrutable ways of Him 
who doeth all things well, we should be destined to meet no 
more, God grant that Heaven may witness our reunion ! 

RETIRES TO PHILADELPHIA. 

Dr. Stork retired to Philadelphia, the home of his wife, 
where he had numerous friends, his former parishioners, 
and where he could pursue his literary labors without in- 
terruption. It was not necessary for him to work for a 
livelihood, so that he had abundant leisure to follow his 
own inclinations. But he could not long remain inactive 
— he always cherished schemes of church progress — he 
was out of his element when he had no religious enter- 
prise on hand — his nervous temperament demanded in- 
cessant action. He was not the man who could devote 
his whole attention to books or retirement of any charac- 
ter, but he must be stirring, or he 'vould lapse into mel- 
ancholy. 



82 TEE STORK FAMILY IN THE LUTHERAN CHURCH. 

He conceived the project of establishing a new congre- 
gation in the vicinity of Broad and Arch streets. A hall 
was rented, and soon a small assembly gathered around 
him, which he organized into a church, which he called 
St. Andrew's, on New Year day, 1865. The increase was 
sufficient to authorize the purschase of a lot of ground, 
which is now occupied by Dr. Seiss' church of the Holy 
Communion. Some progress was made towards its erec- 
tion, but difficulties occurred concerning the title to the 
property, and the enterprise was abandoned. It is doubt- 
ful whether, in the condition of his health, he would have 
been able to endure the labors, anxieties and vexations 
necessarily growing out of an undertaking of the dimen- 
sions contemplated. It was a great relief when he was 
compelled to abandon it. It would have overtaxed his 
strength and shortened his days. 

Dr. F. W. Conrad was at that time pastor of the 
Church of the Messiah, and Dr. Stork and his members 
of St. Andrew's were invited by the people of the Mes- 
siah Mission to unite with them, under the joint pastoral 
care of these two men. This arrangement continued for 
about a year, but it was found to be inexpedient. Both 
men were engaged in editorial and other literary pursuits, 
so that active pastoral work, so essential to a mission, was 
out of the question, and Dr. Stork retired in 1871 ; — and 
here end the pastoral labors of this earnest and warm- 
hearted servant of God, which were prosecuted with suc- 
cess for thirty-six years. 



CHAPTER VII. 

HIS EDITORIAL AND LITERARY CAREER — DEATH AND BURIAL. 

IN 1855, he and Rev. C. A. Smith were editors of a 
monthly periodical which was called The Home Jour- 
nal . It was intended for plain family reading, and its 
pages sparkled with gems furnished from the fertile im- 
agination of Dr. Stork; but he was not the man to be 
perplexed by the drudgery of business or the dull routine 
of office duties. He soon grew weary of any annoying 
service outside of the pulpit, and the monotonous yet 
compulsory work of furnishing at a certain time a specific 
quantity of literary matter, was irksome. If he could 
have remained in his study and have been perfectly free 
to write when he felt the inspiration, and had not been 
annoyed by business calls or engagements, he would have 
dashed off the most charming articles for his magazine to 
any extent desired. The publication was suspended. 

About this time the Lutheran Observer fell into in- 
competent hands, and it was conducted in so slovenly a 
manner that the patronage declined alarmingly. Rev. 
Dr. B. Kurtz, who had temporarily retired from the 
editorship, observing this disheartening condition of 
things, and apprehending that his old favorite, which he 
he had labored so long and so hard to sustain, would 
suffer irrecoverably until he went to the rescue, resumed 
the management of the paper in 1861, as he said to me, 

(83) 



84 THE STORK FAMILY IN THE LUTHERAN CHURCH. 

"to save it from ruin." To give it greater efficiency, 
and to enliven its columns with rich and instructive 
articles, he entered upon an engagement with Dr. Stork 
as assistant editor. After the paper had heen reestab- 
lished upon a solid basis and the confidence of its patrons 
had been re-secured and the number increased, Drs. Stork 
and Diehl purchased the Observer in 1862, and they sold 
one-third interest to Dr. Conrad. Dr. Stork being resi- 
dent editor in Baltimore, had a large share in the man- 
agement of the literary department, and this relation he 
sustained until his removal from Baltimore in 1865. 

When the Observer was transferred to Philadelphia, 
and it became the property of the Lutheran Observer 
Association^ on New-Year day, 1867, Dr. Stork once 
more became a member of the editorial staff, a position 
which he held for several years, retiring in July, 1869. 

Four years after, near the close of 1873, he issued a 
prospectus for a family magazine, and published the first 
number with the title of Lutheran Home Montlily^ in 
January, 1874. After issuing three additional numbers, 
he was taken suddenly ill, and never recovered. 

Dr. Stork was the author of nine publications in book 
form, and of two small works in pamphlet form. A vol- 
ume of his sermons, edited by his sons, was published two 
years after his death. His writings are chiefly on Bibli- 
cal subjects. He reveals in them his devout and loving 
heart, a wide range of reading, and fine aesthetic talent. 

The following is a list of his works in the order of 
their publication : 

1. The Children of the New Testament, 1854, pp. 186. 



REV. THEOPHILUS STORK, D. D. 85 

2. Luther's Christmas Tree, 1855, pp. 32. 

3. Jesus in the Temple, 1856, pp. 31. 

4. Home Scenes in the New Testament, 185T, pp. 296. 

5. Luther at Home, 1871, pp. 148. 

6. The Unseen World, 1871, pp. 148. 

, 7. Luther and the Bible, 1873, pp. 208. 

8. Afternoon, 1874, pp. 360. 

9. Sermons, 1876, pp. 339. 

There were besides, published from his pen, two Hymns 
for the Soldier, 1867 ; sermon on Maternal Responsibil- 
ity, 1858. 

Numerous other articles for the church papers and the 
Review were contributed by him. 

The degree of Doctor of Divinity was conferred on him 
by Pennsylvania College in 1851. 

Dr. Stork was twice married. His first wife has been 
previously mentioned. She died in Germantown in 
August. 1846. Two years after, he married Miss Emma 
Baker, of Philadelphia, who survives him, and is the 
mother of his youngest son, Theophilus Baker Stork. 
His children by the first wife were William L. Stork, 
now of Baltimore, and Rev. Dr. Charles A. Stork, de- 
ceased. 

DEATH, BURIAL AND MEMORIAL EULOGIES, 

Dr. Stork died in Philadelphia on Saturday, March 
28th, 1874. The following account of his funeral is 
taken from the Lutheran Observer : 

"Tuesday, the 31st of March, was set apart for convey- 
ing his mortal remains to the tomb, and the occasion was 
5 



86 THE STORK FAMILY IN THE LUTHERAN CHURCH. 

unspeakably impressive. The funeral was appointed for 
11 o'clock in the morning, at the residence of the deceased. 
As the hour approached, large numbers of relatives, 
friends and acquaintances began to arrive, and after tak- 
ing a last and tearful look at the form of him whom in 
life thej cherished so tenderly, distributed themselves 
through the large mansion until all its apartments were 
filled with sorrowing relatives and mourning friends, who 
came to manifest their sympathy with the bereaved, and 
their respect and esteem for the departed. 

"About mid-day the funeral services were commenced 
with the singing of a beautiful hymn in soft and plaintive 
notes by the choir of St. Matthew's church, after which 
Dr. L. E. Albert, of Germantown, read appropriate pas- 
sages from the sacred Scriptures. Dr. W. M. Baum 
then delivered a touching tribute to the memory of the 
deceased, setting forth in fitting terms the character, 
leading events and labors of his life. He was followed 
by Dr. J. G. Butler, of Washington, D. C, who, in a 
brief and tender impromptu address, bore testimony to 
his worth, devotion and usefulness. Dr. C. P. Krauth, 
of this city, ofi'ered an impressive prayer, commending the 
stricken widow and the fatherless children to the guardian 
care of their covenant-keeping Father in heaven. 

"A double procession in carriages and on foot was then 
formed, and proceededed to the old cemetery of St. 
John's Lutheran congregation, near the church, on Race 
between Fourth and Fifth streets, where the body, in 
charge of a committee from St. Matthew's church, was 
deposited in the vault of the Baker family, with the rela- 



REV. THEOPHILUS STORK, D. D. 87 

tives of his wife. Dr. J. A. Seiss, the pastor of St. 
John's church, impressively read the burial services. 
Then the benediction was pronounced, and the mourners 
and the multitude, who had followed a loving husband, 
a fond father and a dear relative, a Christian brother, a 
devoted friend and a faithful pastor, to his final resting 
place, returned sadly and thoughtfully to their homes. 

" The obsequies of Dr. Stork are worthy of more than a 
mere passing notice. He had lived in this city a quarter 
of a century, and held the pastoral relation in four 
different congregations, at different periods, for more than 
twenty years. The seals of his ministry are counted by 
hundreds, and those who were edified by his discourses 
and writings by thousands. His spiritual children, his 
former parishioners, his ministerial brethren and his per- 
sonal friends came together with one mind and one heart. 
They bore a united testimony to his artlessness, sim- 
plicity and tenderness as a Christian man, and to his 
earnestness, ability and fidelity as a pastor and minister; 
and while they recalled his spiritual graces, they cast the 
mantle of charity over his human imperfections. They 
loved him with the most tender and ardent affection. 
The heart-strings of all present were so tuned with 
sympathy, that they need but be touched by the truths 
read from the Scriptures, or the words uttered by the 
preacher, or the petitions offered in prayer, or the senti- 
ments breathed in song, to give a response in sighs and 
tears. When * Jesus wept' at the grave of Lazarus, 
the Jews said : ' Behold how he loved him.' By a 
similar interpretation of the tears shed around the bier of 



88 THE STORK FAMILY IN THE LUTHERAN CHURCH. 

Dr. Stork, we may also exclaim: 'Behold how they 
loved him!' 

" Death levels all human distinctions" and unites all 
again with their kindred dust. Death has also a sweet 
harmonizing influence upon the living. We were struck 
with this at the funeral of Dr. Stork. There were 
seventeen Lutheran clergymen present, seven of whom, 
viz., Drs. Krauth, Seiss, C. F. Schaeffer, C. W. Schaeffer, 
and Revs. Bickel, Geissenhainer and Kunkleman, be- 
long to the General Council ; and ten, viz., Drs. 
Morris, Butler, Albert, Baum and Conrad, and Revs. 
Dimm, Sheeleigh, Holman, Yeiser and Steck, belong 
to the General Synod. Of those who officiated, two 
pertained to the former and three to the latter body. 
Dr. Krauth had succeeded Dr. Stork both as pastor at 
Winchester and at St. Mark's, Philadelphia. Dr. Baum 
had succeeded him as pastor in Winchester and in St. 
Matthew's, in this city. Rev. Kunkleman succeeded him 
at St. Mark's, Philadelphia ; his own son Charles A. fol- 
lowed him in St. Mark's, Baltimore. Dr. Conrad was 
associated with him as editor in Baltimore, and as both 
editor and pastor in Philadelphia. All of them were 
once united in one general ecclesiastical body.; and 
although that body was subsequently divided and they 
became ecclesiastically separated, they alike responded 
to the call of death and gathered around the bier of their 
departed classmate, and predecessor, and associate, and 
synodical colleague, and ministerial brother, and buried 
him in the unity of ' the faith once delivered to the 
saints.' 



REV. THEOPHILUS STORK, D. D. 89 

"Although a Lutheran, Dr. Stork was not a sectarian, 
but a catholic Christian. He not only acknowledged the 
orthodoxy of the evangelical Protestant denominations, 
but he practiced altar and pulpit fellowship with them. 
He took part in the general ecclesiastical movements of 
this city, was at home in union meetings, and was widely 
known and universally esteemed by the ministers and 
members of other denominations, many of whom attended 
his funeral, and united their testimony to his Christian 
charity and catholic spirit, with that borne by the mem- 
bers of his own household of faith. 

"All present at these obsequies felt that ' it is better to 
go to the house of mourning than to the house of feasting,' 
•All things are yours,' says Paul — ' death' as well as 
'life.' Life to consecrate to Christ — death to ponder and 
improve for Christ. From that coffin, as his pulpit, death 
proclaimed that it is appointed unto men once to die ; 
that they know neither the day nor the hour when the 
summons to appear before God shall come ; and that it 
becometh all men to be ready to depart and be with 
Christ. On that solemn occasion, memory recalled many 
endearing associations and precious recollections of the 
departed — many deeds of charity and mercy, parting 
counsels, last farewells, and dying testimonies to the sup- 
porting grace and presence of Jesus, unutterable in Avords, 
but beaming from his eye, and lighting up his face with 
joy, Avhen already 'quite on the verge of heaven.' All 
present on that impressive occasion realized that ' the 
memory of the just is blessed.' And the Scriptural ad- 
monition to all is: ' Remember them * * * who have 



90 THE STORK FAMILY IN THE LUTHERAN CHURCH. 

spoken unto you the Word of God ; whose faith follow, 
considering the end of their conversation.' ' They that 
turn many to righteousness shall shine as the brightness 
of the firmament, and as the stars forever and ever.' 
' Work while it is called to-day, for the night cometh 
wherein no man can work.' 'Be thou faithful unto death, 
and I will give thee the crown of life.' " 



CHAPTER YIII. 

REMINISCENCES— MEMORIALS — TRIBUTES OF RESPECT. 

Lewis L. Houpt writes : 

Philadelphia, March, 1885. 

Dr. Stork's peculiar attraction was his earnestness and sincer- 
ity. He was very eloquent at times, and his discourses were 
beautifully illustrated and emphatically delivered. He was spe- 
cially gifted in prayer, and all were drawn to him by his affec- 
tionate manner, his child-like simplicity, and humble Christian 
character. There was a personal magnetism about him that 
won all hearts alike, and people of all churches gladly sat under 
his ministry, and listened to the Word from his lips. They 
came and attended and connected themselves not so much with 
St. Mark's Lutheran church as with Dr. Stork's church, by 
which name it was universally known in his day. 

REV. DR. C. W. SCHAEFFER. 

Germantown, March 25, 1885. 

My relations to Dr. Stork were such as enable me to speak of 
him only in general terms. He entered the Theological Semi- 
nary at Gettysburg only after I had left it ; so that I saw very 
little of him there; yet knew him, all along, as occupying a 
position of prominence, for the excellence of his cliaracter and 
the value of his talents and attainments, as a student of Penn- 
sylvania College. 

Upon his coming to Philadelphia, as pastor of St. Matthew's, 
he took an active part in the organizing of the East Pennsylvania 
Synod. Although my personal relations with all the early mem- 
bers of that Synod were quite intimate and perfectly friendly, 
yet the fact of our belonging to different synods resulted in my 
having very little official intercourse with Dr. Stork. 

(91) 



92 THE STORK FAMILY IN THE LUTHERAN CHURCH. 

Yet, I may say that I knew him well, having often met him 
in private life, and, very often, in the prosecution of the arduous 
and self-denying business which continued for years, and which 
resulted in the establishment of the "Board of Publication" at 
42 N. Ninth street, Philadelphia. I may speak moderately, and 
yet come behind none, in testifying concerning his purity of 
character, his genial spirit, the refinement of liis manners, 
his hearty and persuasive eloquence in the pulpit, the devotion 
and tender sympathies that so strongly marked his pastoral 
activities. 

My personal recollections of him are altogether pleasant; and 
I cheiish his memory fondly, as that of an eminently good and 
useful man. I am glad that you have undertaken the work you 
have on hand ; I wish you all success in it, and that it may be 
followed with the blessing that cometh down from above. 

FROM REV. DR. R. WEISER, DENVER, COL. 

May 3, 1885. 

* * * "^ When young Stork came to Gettysburg at about 16 
years of age, he was a slender youth and ai^parently in delicate 
health. 

He took a high position as a diligent and successful student 
of the Classics. * ^ * After he had entered the ministry, I 
met him at protracted meetings in Frederick, where I heard 
him preach several of his spendid sermons. After his removal 
to Philadelphia, I became associated with him in East Pennsyl- 
vania Synod, and often heard him preach, and met him at the 
General Synod at various places. « * -x- * * 

Soon after the death of his first wife, the East Pennsylvania 
Synod met' at Milton. He had preached on several occasions 
with great power and pathos, his heart had been mellowed by 
affliction, and the realities of the invisible world vseem to have 
laid hold of his mind in an unusual manner ; for the moment he 
opened his lips to speak, a wave of excitement seemed to roll 
over the congregation. At the close of the Synod Dr. Stork 
was requested by a resolution to return the thanks of Synod to 
the members of the church who had entertained us so hand- 
somely. 



REV. THEOPHILUS STORK, D. D. 93 

When Brother Stork rose up to speak, a deep solemnity 
pervaded the whole large assembly, for all expected to hear 
something unusually interesting, and we were not disappointed, 
for a more thrilling and pathetic address none of us had ever 
heard. Alter speaking most affectionately and impressively to 
the people, and thanking them for their kindness and hospi- 
tality, and hoping they might be rewarded, he then turned to the 
preachers and with deep feeling said : "And now my dear breth- 
ren we have ispent a pleasant season together ; we have been 
cheered and comforted by the presence of the Lord — our hearts 
have been knit closer together —we have sat together in heavenly 
places in Christ Jesus. But we must now separate. You, my dear 
brethren, will return to your homes, your loved ones will receive 
you with joy and gladness— but where am I to go? I have no 
home on eartli ! The Lord has broken up my home." At this 
point he was so overcome by his feelings that he broke down, 
and we all bioke down with him, and the whole vast audience 
m a moment had become a Bochim (a house of weeping). 
Never had I seen such an outbreak of feeling — we all loved 
Brother Stork, and our deepest sympathies were with him, and 
it took some time before he could finish his address. This was 
on the 26th of September, 1846 : I recollect it distinctly. 

It is scarcely necessary for me to state that Brother Stork was 
much beloved by all his clerical brethren, for he was an amiable 
and lovable man, full of tenderness and sympathy. xis a 
preacher he was eloquent and very impressive, he never failed 
to gain the attention of his hearers ; his sermons were all care- 
fully written, and he generally read them, but he was an elegant 
reader. He paid, perhaps, more attention to rhetoric and elo- 
cution than any other man in the church. His cadences, and 
gestures, and the modulations of his voice, all seemed to have 
been carefully studied. This some of his best friends thought 
was not natural, and detracted somewhat as they supposed from 
his power in the pulpit. But these were the very points that 
constituted his strength in the pulpit. In any other man than 
Rev. T. Stork, the modulation of the voice, and its peculiar in- 
tonation would have been looked upon as affectation ; but in 
5* 



94 THE STORK FAMILY IN THE LUTHERAN CHURCH. 

him it was perfectly natural. He was mild, conciliatory, 
and forgiving. His preaching was always acceptable and 
instructive. His aim was to do good. Nor did he labor in 
vain. The fruits of his labors are all the churches which he 
served ; his memory is still cherished by those who enjoyed the 
benefit of his labors. He spent the evening of his life in writ- 
ing rather than in preaching. His style is clear and elegant, 
highly finished, and always fresh, lively and vigorous. I loved 
him as a man, admired him as a preacher, and cannot speak too 
highly of him as a writer of entertaining and instructive books. 
I would say of him, as Halleck said of Drake : 

" Green be the tnrf above thee, 
Friend of my early days : 
None knew thee but to love thee, 
None named thee but to praise," 

I send you this faded chaplet, which you may hang upon the 
tomb of an old and departed friend and brother. 

A JUDICIOUS ESTIMATE OF DR. STORK AS A SERMONIZER. 
{From the Observer.) 

The volume of sermons of Dr. T. Stork, edited by his 
sons, and issued by our Board of Publication, appeared 
at a time of all least favorable to arrest public attention. 
It was in the very midst of the stir and bustle of the 
Centennial, and of a most exciting Presidential election. 
The minds of most people were occupied with other things 
than the reading of sermons. But the Centennial is now 
over, and a President has been elected ; and we may 
turn our minds to the more common but more enduring 
subjects of thought. 

It may be regarded as somewhat of a venture at al- 
most any time and by any one to publish a volume of 
sermons. Few such volumes succeed in gaining or hold- 



REV. THEOPHILUS STORK, D. D. 95 

ing the attention of any considerable number of readers. 
The most attractive preachers in the pulpit are often very 
dull in print: and "as dull as a sermon" has in certain 
circles passed into a by-word. We think that a great 
deal that is said about sermons and preaching is more 
commonplace and dull than any preaching can well be ; 
and yet it cannot be denied that, as a rule, sermons are 
not the most interesting reading. For this some better 
reasons than those ordinarily ofiered might be given were 
it necessary, but this is not our purpose. 

This may be regarded as a rather awkward and cum- 
bersome introduction to a few words on a volume of ser- 
mons. Yery well. Let it be so regarded. We want 
to say that this volume of sermons by Dr. Stork cannot 
be considered dull or commonplace, but will be read with 
interest and profit by all who love divine truth, and may 
be studied with advantage by those whose business it is 
to preach the gospel. It deserves a place in the minis- 
ter's library, and in the choice reading of the family. It 
will serve as a quickener of thought and of piety. 

It is not our purpose to attempt any careful analysis 
of this volume, or to offer any extended criticism. Our 
main object is simply to call attention to it, in the hope 
that many will be induced to procure the volume and 
study it for themselves, and in the assurance that they 
will be amply rewarded. To avoid misapprehension, we 
will say that if any one obtains this volume with the 
expectation of finding learned discussions, or faultless 
homiletics, he will likely be disappointed. The volume 
cannot be commended for these qualities. But it has 



96 THE STORK FAMILY IN THE LUTHERAN CHURCH. 

qualities — the very qualities that made Dr. Stork among 
the most attractive and impressive of preachers — that 
must commend the volume, and make it worthy of a care- 
ful study. In attempting to note a few points which 
strike us in reading the volume, we mention — 

The absence of just those qualities which too often 
make sermons, written or preached, dull. There are no 
trite utterances, which mean nothing at all, or unmeaning 
sentences that seem to be spoken just because something 
must be said. Sometimes we are tempted to say as we 
read or hear. This is all true, but what of it? To find a 
volume free from such studied dullness is no small merit, 
and is a great relief in reading. 

Again, there is no tedious prolixity. Some preachers 
when they hit upon a good idea, beat it to death. They 
seem to be so pleased with it that they handle it until all 
life and beauty are departed. Under the pretense of 
presenting it under difterent points of view, they exhibit 
it until we are tired, and the mind wanders after some- 
thing else. There is nothing tedious in these sermons. 
Their brevity is explained from the fact that they were 
left in an incomplete condition ; but had they been much 
longer it would not have altered the case — they lack the 
common quality of tedious prolixity. 

The qualities thus stated are rather negative than pos- 
itive, and it would do injustice to these sermons to leave 
the impression that they are lacking in positive excel- 
lencies. Some of these we should name, as freshness, 
simplicity, beauty, aptness of illustration, spirituality, 
and fervor. Without any great claim to originality, 



REV. THEOPHILUS STORK, D. D. 97 

there is a freshness about these sermons that is attractive. 
Truths are put in a strong and striking light. There are 
sharp, incisive sentences, and vivid pictures scattered 
through them, which relieve them of everything like 
tameness, and make them a pleasure to read. Take this 
at random from the sermon, " Christ's Sigh:" "There 
may have been something in the dangerousness of the 
faculty he was about to bestow upon the man that made 
him sigh. It was language. He knew the power of 
speaking was specially the power of sinning ; that no 
member was so difficult of control and so liable to oifend 
as the tongue ... It was a perilous gift. It may help 
us to keep the door of our lips to remember that Christ 
sighed when restoring this faculty." That is equal to a 
whole sermon on the danger of the tongue. 

With this is joined a charming simplicity and beauty. 
We do not mean either superficiality or meretricious 
decorations. The idea which some people attach to sim- 
plicity in style or speaking is that it has no depth of 
meaning. But they mistake emptiness and superficiality 
for genuine simplicity — to which it has no resemblance. 
And their idea of beauty corresponds Avith the present 
idea of dress — the more ornamental work the more beau- 
tiful. But good taste spurns such excessive adornment. 
Dr. Stork had the taste to combine simplicity with beauty, 
as w^e find them in the natural world. While there are 
sparkling beauties in conception and expression, they do 
not destroy the simplicity of his style. He never wearies 
with a profusion of ornament. 

Many of the striking illustrations with which Dr. 



98 THE STORK FAMILY IN THE LUTHERAN CHURCH. 

Stork's preaching abounded it is known were introduced 
on the occasion, and are not found in his printed discus- 
sions. But we have enough here to give some idea of his 
aptness at illustration and in the application of Scripture. 

A crowning excellence in these sermons is their spirit- 
uality and religious power. The preacher, one feels, is 
in sympathy with his subject, and is aiming to draw his 
hearers to the Saviour. In the pulpit he seemed to be 
standing near the cross, and from it to sound out the in- 
vitations of mercy and peace. They are gospel sermons 
— not dry discussions of doctrines or moral essays, but 
teeming with rich treasures of divine truth. 

We feel quite sure that more preaching like that in 
these sermons would help to render the pulpit more effec- 
tive and the world better. 

REMINISCENCES OF THE REV. T. STORK, D. D. 
(Fro?nBec. Dr. S. W. Harkey.) 

As I knew Theophilus Stork in his boyhood in North 
Carolina, and as a student during his entire course in 
the college and seminary at Gettysburg, I may perhaps 
be able to give a few facts of interest to the general 
reader. 

I can remember the name of old grandfather Stork 
(written Storch in German), the revered father of 
Theophilus, for more than sixty years, as the embodi- 
ment of almost everything that was valuable to the 
Lutheran church in the central counties of North Caro- 
lina. The same class of people, of our household of 
faith, were found here as in Pennsylvania. In fact, num- 



REV. THEOPHILUS STORK, D. D. 99 

bers of them had immigrated from Pennsylvania, going 
south through the "valley of Virginia," and across the 
"Blue Ridge" into Guilford county, where Salem, a 
Moravian town, has existed from the early times, and then 
into the good lands along the Yadkin and Catawba rivers. 
The Germans seem always to find the good lands. Over 
all these portions of North Carolina, German Lutherans 
were scattered even before the times of the Revolutionary 
war. 

Old father Stork did more than all other men, a cen- 
tury ago, to seek out these scattered sheep of our fold, 
and gather them into congregations. Many of the 
churches which he organized still exist, some of which I 
have known personally, as the one in Salisbury, the " Or- 
gan Church," some twenty miles south of Salisbury, and 
the St. John's church, formerly called the "Red Meeting 
House," some miles east of Concord in Cabarrus county. 

Father Stork owned a farm some five miles west from 
the Organ church, where he spent the evening of his days 
in retirement, after disease compelled him to relinquish 
the active duties of the ministry, and where Theophilus 
passed his childhood and youth. When I was eighteen 
years of age I taught a school in this neighborhood in 
the winter of 1829-30, and also gathered the young peo- 
ple together to practice singing on Sunday afternoons 
when there was no service. One Sunday afternoon The- 
ophilus, who was then a lad fifteen or sixteen years of 
age, came to my singing-school and insisted that I must 
go home with him, as his father wished to see me. It 
was a distance of about ten miles, and he had come on 



100 THE STORK FAMILY IN THE LUTHERAN CHURCH. 

horseback. We rode the horse turn-about, and soon made 
our way to the home of the venerable patriarch. They 
had heard that I had a desire to go to Gettysburg to study 
for the ministry, and as Theophilus was also to go, they 
wished to see me about it. Father Stork was now dis- 
abled from all labor, and confined to his room by dropsy. 
I saw him sitting in his large arm-chair, unable to walk 
or move around, except as that chair was moved. I re- 
mained over night, and Theophilus and I talked over and 
over the whole matter of our going to Gettysburg to 
study for the ministry, and laid plans for its accomplish- 
ment. It was indeed a grave question for us. It was 
a long distance from our home, nearly five hundred miles 
from that part of Carolina to Gettysburg. We were 
young, and knew nothing about the world or a course of 
education for the ministry. And worst of all, I had no 
money to pay my way, though Stork had some means. 
Theophilus was the youngest son of Father Stork, 
**the son of his old age," and he was anxious that this 
son should be devoted to the work of Christ — in some 
sense to take the father's place in the church when he 
was gone. We were called into the old gentleman's 
room in the evening for family worship. Neither of us 
could pray extemporaneously, but we could sing and read. 
So we sang a hymn, and Theophilus read a prayer from 
the liturgy. Father Stork then asked me about going 
to study for the ministry, and said he wanted Theophilus 
to go to Gettysburg the coming fall ; he was now going 
to a high school nearer home, but by next fall he should 
go to Gettysburg. He urged me to go as soon as I 



REV. THEOPHILUS STORK, D. D. 101 

could get ready. I told him the difficulties in my way 
— that I was young and inexperienced, was my father's 
oldest child and he needed me at home on the farm, and 
that my parents could not possibly raise the money to 
support me ; otherwise they were willing I should go. 
He said: "Tell your parents such things must he — they 
MUST be! God will help you. They must let you go." 
I told him there were two other young men of whom I 
had heard who wanted to go, and perhaps I could go with 
them. He said I must go, and he would write to Professor 
Schmucker, and prepare the way for me. The agree- 
ment was made that I should go as soon as I could get 
ready, and should write back and tell how things were at 
" the Seminary," and in a few months Theophilus should 
come. I parted from the good man, having received his 
blessing, and I never saw him again. But that blessing 
abideth yet, and all that he said, and much more than 
any of us could hope for has come to pass 1 My school 
closed about March, 1830, and I had made a little money 
with which I could pay my way to Gettysburg, and for 
the future the good Lord must help — and He did. The 
other two young men and myself " fixed up" a little one- 
horse wagon, with a top to it, called a " carry -all," and 
came to Gettysburg, leaving home on the 24th of May, 
1830, and arriving at our journey's end on the 10th day 
of June, at an expense of $3. 53 J each, or$10.65f for all 
three of us, a distance of five hundred miles ! Theophi- 
lus Stork was exceedingly anxious to go with us ; but 
for good reasons his father thought best that he should 
wait and come in the fall. 



102 THE STORK FAMILY IN THE LUTHERAN CHURCH. 

It was then, as yet, a " day of small things" at Gettys- 
burg. No seminary or college buildings, or Professors' 
houses, existed. There had been theological classes 
organized, and the " Gymnasium," and in all some thirty 
odd students were in attendance. The exercises were 
held in the old Academy, an humble two-story brick 
building, containing a library room, a small chapel, and 
three recitation rooms. Rev. Prof. S. S. Schmucker 
was there, and Revs. David and Michael Jacobs. I well 
remember the pale and sickly face of David Jacobs, to 
whom I recited my first lessons in the Latin Gramma i-. 
He left the Institution that summer, and took a trip to 
the South for the benefit of his health, but only got back 
as far as to Shepherdstown, Virginia, where he died. 

The same fall, in the month of October I think, 
Theophilus Stork came to Gettysburg, making the trip 
in the stage ; a ruddy youth of sixteen, full of life and 
hope. One of the first things he asked me was, " How 
much have you learned since you are here ? Can you 
read any I^atin?" I took up a copy of Caesar, and read 
a paragraph or two near the beginning, which I had 
about committed to memory. " Why, you can read Latin 
better than I can," said he, '' and I am surprised at you !" 
'' Come on," said I, " we are here now at Gettysburg, 
and we must make it tell." Of course we w^ere fast 
friends all the time during our student days, and during 
all his life. You will observe from these statements which 
I know to be true, that some errors have been committed 
by a writer in the Review who furnished a sketch of Dr. 
Stork's life. He did not go to Gettysburg after his 



REV. THEOPHILUS STORK, D. D. 103 

father's death, but before^ and was called home when his 
father was dying, and returned to Gettysburg in the fall 
of 1831. It is not correct to say, as that writer has 
done, that his father urged his " delicate health as an in- 
superable obstacle," for the pastoral office; but, on the 
other hand, the father gave his full consent, and even in- 
sisted upon this course. I am perfectly familiar with all 
these facts. 

He was a faithful student, a good young man, and I 
think entirely free from the usual college vices. He re- 
mained at Gettysburg several years longer than I did, 
and graduated in both college and seminary. 

A TRIP SOUTH. 

During the summer and fall vacation of 1832, three of 
us North Carolina students took it into our heads to 
make a trip back to the old home. But how was it to be 
done ? No railroads in those days, nor any way of 
going except by stage or on foot. But stage fare was 
high, and we had no money with which to pay it even if 
it had been low. After much deliberation and planning, 
we determined to attempt the journey on foot 1 Each of 
us would make up a small bundle of such clothing as we 
must have, in the shape of a knapsack, and, as the roads 
were good, we could go on slowly from day to day, and 
surely in three weeks we could make the 500 miles! 
Theophilus Stork was one of the trio, and eager to make 
the start. "Good-by, Gettysburg!" for awhile, anyhow 
— hope to return in a couple of months ! The first day we 
tramped from Gettysburg to Hagerstown, and the second 



104 THE STOEK FAMILY IN THE LUTHERAN CHURCH. 

from Hagerstown to Martinsburg, in Virginia; and then 
we called a "council of war," for Theophilus declared 
he could go no farther. His feet were terribly sore, and 
he was completely "used up." What should we do? 
The whole subject was duly considered, and it was deter- 
mined that Stork should take the stage and return to Get- 
tysburg, and the other two of us shouldered our knap- 
sacks and went "marching on." And we made the 500 
mile trip, and in due time were at our places again in 
Gettysburg, and found Brother Stork all right. How we 
made the trip — how we walked, and when and how we 
rested — what sights we saw in the valley of Virginia, at 
the Natural Bridge^ and in the mountains we crossed — 
and how one of our number, though he had been at Get- 
tysburg only two years and had no license to preach yet, 
did preach all around in the old Carolina churches, and 
produced quite "a sensation" — all this and a great deal 
more it is no business of this article to tell. Only 
Brother Stork never started on another such trip on foot, 
nor did the rest of us. 

After all, the failure of dear Theophilus to accompany 
us to Carolina at "that time, proved a most sad and seri- 
ous loss to him, subsequently causing him much grief. 
He never got to see the face of his good mother again. 
How deeply this distressed him I perhaps got to know 
better than any one else. His father had been called 
home the year before, but his mother was yet living 
when we made the trip, but died rather suddenly the 
next year, and he saw her no more. Afterwards it was 
made his sad duty to v^isit the old homestead, to aid in 



REV. THEOPHILUS STORK, D. D. 105 

settling. up matters — but 0, how changed! The old farm 
and house were there, but all he loved most dearly on 
earth were gone. I asked him about it when he re- 
turned. "Ahl yes," said he, " I was at the dear old 
home. The house and the barn and the shade trees in 
the yard, and the garden, all are there as they used to 
be ; the kitchen, dining room, study and parlor, all 
remain; but 0, the loved ones all are gone! I exam- 
ined everything carefully. The little horse I had carved 
on the kitchen-door with my penknife, is still there ; and 
the spring branch where I used to fish with a pin hook — 
all still there. The birds sing among the branches of the 
trees as sweetly as ever ; but the whole seemed a mock- 
ery, where no sweet voice of the dear departed was now 
to be heard." 

From Lutheran Observer, April 3, 1874 — Editorial. 

Dr. S. was an attractive and forcible preacher, always 
interesting and often presenting truths in a most beauti- 
ful and striking manner. He was especially successful 
in pressing the truth upon the impenitent, and many ex- 
tensive revivals of religion took place under his efficient 
ministrations of the gospel in nearly all his pastorates. 

Personally, he was genial and companionable, and his 
attachment to and interest in personal friends Avas very 
warm and tender. He devoted a considerable portion of 
his time to authorship and has published a number of 
works, some of which have passed through several edi- 
tions. * * * As a writer. Dr. Stork displayed a 
lively imagination and poetic fancy, as well as a culti- 



106 THE STORK FAMILY IN THE LUTHERAN CHURCH. 

vated and literary taste; and our readers are too well 
acquainted with his attractive style to require any char- 
acteristic of it here. 

From the Lutheran Home Monthly. 

Dr. Stork is dead. We do not speak of the editor, 
the writer, the Doctor of Divinity, but of the man. 
Doubtless every Lutheran journal in the land will bear 
testimony to Dr. Stork's worth, and many a one T/ho has 
no connection with our church, or indeed with any church, 
will have some words of compHment to speak or write ; 
but who can tell a tithe of the good man's goodness and 
amiability and benevolence and beneficence ? 

Let others talk of him in his public life, let yet others 
publish what he was to them socially ; grant us, dear 
reader, the sad privilege of boasting of our close intimacy 
with this excellent man for the past six years. Every 
day, during that time, unless absent from the city or ill, 
he spent some two hours with us at the Publication House, 
aiding us by his advice, by his exquisite literary taste, by 
his means, and still more by his countenance and personal 
influence — all this done as President of the Board, lov- 
ingly, unselfishly, and without any remuneration what- 
ever. 

Time and again we have been asked, "Why do you 
publish books for Dr. Stork and not for usf Waiving 
the fact that Dr. Stork's reputation as an author made 
his books eminently desirable to any Publishing House, 
we are now at liberty to answer — his death has unsealed 
our lips — " Because he assumed a large part of the labor, 



REV. THEOPHILUS STORK, D. D. 107 

and, on account of our inadequate capital, all the ex- 
pense." 

On the other hand, the inquiry has been made, and 
with some reason, '' Why did he not let the Publication 
Society publish his last two books?" We feel at liberty 
now to reply to that query : It was his intention to give 
those two books to the Publication Board, and all the 
preliminary labor, including the stereotyping, and even 
the purchase of the paper, was done by us to that intent ; 
but alas ! his attention was called to some unkind re- 
marks with regard to the Board's publishing books for 
him and not for others ; also that he took advantage of 
his position as President to give his own books a prece- 
dence. 

These strictures, so unfounded and so unjust, made in 
many instances by persons who knew nothing of the Doc- 
tor, and in every case by those who knew nothing of the 
circumstances, wounded his sensitive heart to a degree 
not sufficient, it is true, to induce him to defend himself 
from the baseless charge, and yet enough to make him 
feel that " it might be better" (his own words) to have 
his books published elsewhere — the Publication House 
being no loser by the change. 

Our cheek burns as we write these words, and we do 
it only from a sense of justice to the dead. Our testi- 
mony is, and we write it advisedly, that the Publication 
Society, durincr our time, owes much more to Dr. T. 
Stork than to any other one man. 

The Liitlieran Home Montlily is the last proof of his 
unselfish love for the Church, and for its Publication 



108 THE STORK FAMILY IN THE LUTHERAN CHURCH. 

House. His money and his energy have given it life and 
being. It has afforded him great anxiety, and has neces- 
sarily cost him a goodly sum beyond its receipts. 

"Took advantage of his position! " Yes, Dr. Stork 
did take advantage of his position, but not in the way 
charged. The advantage consisted in this one good man's 
bearing far more than his share of the work of the Pub- 
lication House. 

At another time we hope to write further on this sub- 
ject; at present we feel inadequate to the duty. 

The last editorial written for the Home MonMy was 
"I am Now Ready." Dr. Stork tvas reiady to leave his 
work, unfinished here, to be continued in heaven. We 
mourn our loss in him, even though we call to mind his 
own beautiful lano;uao;e in his last book : 

" The departure of loved ones is a sorrow which shades 
the earth, but opens heaven. Every Christian friend de- 
parted may in spirit be walking with us by the way, 
causing our hearts to rejoice within us by opening to us 
the deep things of God, thougli, like the disciples of old, 
our eyes are holden that we see it not." 

The following tender and touching article written for 
the Observer soon after Dr. Stork's death, by his young- 
est son, now an attorney in Philadelphia, presents his 
poetical tastes and social character in an attractive light: 

IN MEiMORlAM. 

"Nay, if you read this line, remember not 
The hand that writ it ; for I love you so 
That I in your sweet thoughts would be forgot 
If thinking on me then should make you woe." 



tlEV. THEOPHILUS STORK, D. D. 109 

Who can ever forget those tender Imes of Shakespeare ? 
An American essayist has tried to separate the love and 
sweetness of the great poet's soul from his greatness. 
But Shakespeare's own true lover, Leigh Hunt, with an 
instinct truer than the critic's, has shown the greatness 
of the poet's genius in the delicacy and tenderness of his 
love-songs. Would that there were room to quote the 
warm-hearted appreciation of the gentle Hunt. 

Men are wont to consider a loving, trusting nature as 
a weak one, and of an inferior rank. There could scarcely 
be a greater mistake. The loving soul is the grandest, 
highest type of man's nature. In Shakespeare his truest 
greatness was his capacity for true and noble loving, as 
shown in his sonnets. It is man made after the image of 
his Creator, who Himself is love. 

This power of loving and this benignity and kindliness 
of soul may be seen running through the genius of all 
ages. When it is wanting one misses the most precious 
gift oi' genius to men — that sunny, trusting spirit of 
good will, and kindliness, and love. What would this 
world be, unlighted by its divine radiance ? 

It was with such thoughts that we read Dr. Stork's 
dedicatory stanzas in Afternoon. They, too, in a smaller 
degree, partake of the same loving tenderness of soul as 
Shakespeare's sonnets. 

Friends of our passing life and ways — 

Now present to our view ; 
These garnered thoughts of leisure days, 

We dedicate to you. 



110 THE STORK FAMILY IN THE LUTHERAN CHURCH. 

We ask not for posthumous fame 

From loving friends apart, 
But kindly thoughts about our name, — 

The memory of the heart. 

It is the same spirit, expressed mayhap less perfectly 
— his was not the poet's power of song — but he gave 
what he had, he spoke as well as he could the longing of 
his heart for love and kindly memories. 

Sometimes a man writes down his whole character in 
one or two brief sentences. In this the whole man, his 
spirit and life, are expressed. This, Dr. Stork, we 
think, has done in these dedicatory stanzas. Every one 
that knew him will recognize the sentiments and perceive 
how characteristic they are of the man. He asked not 
for posthumous fame ; we all know how little ambition he 
had ; he never expressed a regret at losing a high posi- 
tion ; he often left it of his own accord. But when any 
one spoke ill of him or felt unkindly toward him, it 
grieved him to the heart. It is this, the most prominent 
trait of his character, that gives his life its highest dig- 
nity, that speaks his kinship with far greater spirits than 
his own. We shall never forget how he looked as he 
wrote those little verses which he put in " After7ioon.''^ 
He wrought them over and over, re-modelling and revising 
them w^th lingering fondness, and then he turned to us, 
when at last he had satisfied himself, and with that smile 
of quiet pleasure beaming on his face (just as his friends 
had seen him often greet them) read them over to us. 

It is a sad pleasure, now and then, in one's reading to 
come across in his books the passages he loved to quote 



REV. THEOPHILUS STORK, D. D. Ill 

— the sentences pencil-marked, the page turned down. 
He used to be very fond of bits of poetry. Here is one 
from Tennyson that he would often quote : 

" A thousand suns will stream on thee, 
A thousand moons shall quiver, 
But not by thee my steps shall be, 
Forever and forever."' 

He liked Tennyson much, and enjoyed especially the 
"Brook Song" which a young friend sang to him several 
times. There is, too, in the Idyls of the King, in the 
" Morte d' Arthur" a soliloquy that we remember read- 
ing to him which pleased him greatly, he never having 
noticed it before. And we recollect his telling us after- 
ward how he quoted it once in a lecture, but the people, 
he thought, did not appreciate it. The lines were those 
beginning : 

'* And slowly answered Arthur from the barge, 
The old order changeth, yielding place to new, 
And God fulills himself in many ways 
Lest one good custom should corrupt the world." . 

The whole speech is fine, but when we came to 

"Pray for my soul. More things are wrought by prayer 
Than this world dreams of. Wherefore let thy voice 
Rise like a fcmntain for me night and day. 

* -;f * * « 7{- * ^ 

For so the whole round earth is every way 
Bound by gold chains around the feet of God.'' 

His face lit up in that rare way it would when he was 
pleased. "Let me see that," he said, and I handed him 
the book. 



112 THE STORK FAMILY IN THE LUTHERAN CHURCH. 

His consideration for the feelings of others was exces- 
sive. He was as thoughtful for the enjoyment of the 
servants in his house as he was for himself. At Christ- 
mas time — which he always observed with the innocent, 
eager joy of a child — he was ever careful to think of 
them, and remember them with some pretty trifle. He 
used to say, when any one spoke to him of it, "I 
think they would feel so lonely if they got no presents." 
As a natural conse(juence of this trait, he was very sen- 
sitive to neglect or slights from those he loved, and felt 
with cx(|uisite keenness any unkind word or act. 

And yet we have known him — such was the broad 
generosity of his spirit — to turn upon men who had 
abused and ill-treated him, and repay their abuse with 
favors and benefit^?. It seemed weakness to some, and 
doubtless so thought the very men thus favored ; they 
could not attain unto it, it was too high for them. But 
now when lie is 2;one we beg;in to see in the love thatfol- 
lows him how truly wise he was, and how, as he himself 
used to say, "Loving favor is better than silver or gold." 

There was about him a certain delicacy of soul, a re- 
serve that he never shook oft" even with his most intimate 
friends. Those who knew him well will remember how, 
on meeting after a separation, there w^as always a certain 
embarrassment, a timidity of soul, just like a bird look- 
inoj askance and waitino; tremblino; to enter into the old 
familiar intercourse. Uncertain whether his friend was 
still the same, and fearing to take liberties, he assumed 
a tentative position. 

But enough of these memoirs. He was no great spirit, 



REV. THEOPHILUS STORK, D. 1). 113 

his was but a humble position in the great army of teach- 
ers and authors ; but he was a true-hearted, loving, trust- 
ing soul, whose sunshine and kindness lightened the path 
of many a weary toiler, and whose monument must be in 
the hearts of those that loved him. 

T. B, STORK. 

At the quarterly meeting of the Ministerial Union of 
Philadelphia, held on Monday, the 30th of March, Rev. 
Dr. Ilotchkin announced the death of Dr. Stork, and Dr. 
Alfred Nevin moved that a committee be appointed to 
draw up a minute on his death. In accordance therewith, 
Alfred Nevin, D. D., E. H. Nevin, D. D., P. S. Henson, 
D. D., and Rev. T. M. Griffith were appointed said com- 
mittee, who, after retiring, subsequently '^ reported reso- 
lutions expressing the regret of the Union at the untimely 
decease of a ministerial brother wliose sincerity, fidelity 
and catholicity gave indubitable evidence of the genu- 
ineness of his piety, and greatly endeared him to his 
"brethren in the ministry, and to all who came in contact 
with him; and tendering their heartfelt sympathies to the 
bereaved family." After appropriate remarks by Rev. J. 
Wheaton Smith, D. D., Dr. Crowell, and Revs. A. Gather 
and S. W. Thomas, the minute was unanimously adopted. 

DEATH OF DR. STORK — OUR LAST CONVERSATION. 

BY REV. JOS. H. BARCLAY. 

From the Lutherdn Observer of Aiiril 10th, 187 J^. 
Death has again entered the circle of our ministry, and 
another dearly beloved of God has gone home. How 
rapidly the ranks are thinning out of the strong men of 



114 THE STORK FAMILY IN THE LUTHERAN CHURCH. 

our Church ! In such a little while, Hutter, Pohlman, 
Bachman and others have gone from us, and now to 
the list of our illustrious dead we must add one more 
— the noble-hearted, tender and gifted Stork. What a 
thrill it sends through the heart of the Church, that he 
who has profited so many by his preaching, his writings 
and his conversation, has left us, and we shall see him no 
more until we reach the great white throne I 

Knowing Dr. Stork intimately for many years, having 
met him at liome and in travel, we made it a special ob- 
ject to visit him only a few weeks since when in Phila- 
delphia ; and it was then we held the conversation we de- 
sire to relate here, as illustrating our brother's yearn- 
ing after heaven, and one of the s[)ecial premonitions he 
had of his approaching dissolution. 

We had visited him on matters connected with the 
Lutheran Monthly, and through our brother's great 
kindness in subscribing for one of the memorial windows 
in our new church edifice in Baltimore, a subject was 
suggested for an article for the Monthly^ '-'•How old art 
thouf'' wliich opened up the thought of growing old. 
Bro. Stork was very free and peculiarly tender that day 
upon heavenly things — the whole drift of thought and 
affection was upward. He was very weak, and his voice 
husky, and when we asked him of his own experience 
and feeling in growing old in God's service, and reminded 
him of the former days of health and vigor, he replied 
with that peculiar smile that so often played over his 
countenance, "I find that age comes unconsciously, 
and that with advancing years has come the grace to 



REV. THEOPHILUS STORK, D. D. 115 

grow older willingly; it gets lighter, not heavier. I 
have scarcely been conscious of any change in that direc- 
tion, of any regrets for the youth far back ; but the 
really sad and most distressing aspect of the case to me, 
Bro. B., was the knowledge that through infirmities, 
not old age (remember, Dr. Stork was yet only on the 
edge of old age), I must quit preaching. I love to 
preach, and it seemed to me age was nothing, death notic- 
ing, in comparison with the saddening truth — I must 
preach no more. I could not for a time be reconciled, 
but I am now resigned to the will of God — only it seems 
to me I must be active." 

We conversed on the little time really allowed us for 
the Master's work, and together we ran over the list of 
the active, influential pastors who were in their prime, 
and had a firm hold on the affections and admiration of 
the church only sixteen years ago, when the writer en- 
tered the ministry, and who had dropped, one by one, out 
of the active ranks, some of them to enter on their ever- 
lasting rest ; and we were mutually surprised to see how 
few remained in the active work — when he added : " This 
conversation recalls to me the thoughts of a remarkable 
and to me premonitory dream I had only a few nights 
ago. I am not a believer in dreams, as a rule ; but this 
was so real, so vivid, and developed to me such full ideas 
of old friends gone, and the heavenly recognition, that it 
has left a strong impression on my mind, and I have felt 
ever since that it has a connection with my own dissolution. 
You may not know that when living. Dr. Krauth, Sr., 
and myself were warm friends, and it was in this city 



116 THE STOllK FAMILY IN THE LUTHERAN CHURCH. 

that we frequently took long walks, often into the coun- 
try, and we w^ould talk of the work of life — its end, and 
the heavenly state and recognition; of how we should 
appear and know each other there. These conversations 
were profitable to me. He passed to his reward years 
ago. Well, a few nights ago he appeared to me while I 
Avas sleeping. I seemed awake, and I saw him in as 
real and tangible a form as I see you now. I knew he 
Avas a spirit, but the spirit appeared as the friend I knew 
in the days of his flesh. He looked as I saw him years 
ago in the vigor of life ; his appearance, his manner, his 
voice, were precisely as Avhen on earth. He came to me, 
and Ave rencAved our old friendship. We took one of our 
old Avalks, and Ave resumed our conversation as those Avho 
have been parted only for a little Avhile. He recalled 
the old impressions, and told me of his state, his experi- 
ence, his consciousness, and how fully it corresponded 
Avith the vicAvs and impressions Ave held in the days of the 
flesh. And Avhilst Ave talked of the positiveness of this 
state, of the holy, comforting feeling of knowing each 
other in heaven, and renewing the old friendships of the 
glorified ones above, gone before, and hoAV they recog- 
nized each other, he said to me on our return from our 
Avalk, as Ave Avere about parting like tAvo friends Avho 
Avould meet the next day : ' You see hoAV real it is ; how 
like Avhat Ave believed it long ago; hoAV we shall know 
each other, and talk of the old Avays, the old joys, as in 
the days of my flesh ; hoAv Ave can take up the threads of 
conversation laid doAvn on earth, and resume it in glory. 
Be comforted. We shall soon meet again, and Ave shall 



REV. THEOPHILUS STORK, D. D. 117 

know and love each other as of old. Farewell.' And 
so he vanished out of my sight, and I awoke feeling that 
death would only open the gates of glory. And so the 
end and dying has lost all its shadow and darkness, and 
I wait patiently." 

So our conversation ended; but as we left Dr. Stork 
that day, so strong was the impression wrought by his 
words and manner, that we remarked to some of his old 
friends and former parishioners, " Our Brother Stork 
will hardly be long with us. He seems to realize an end 
fast approaching." 

We had hoped to see him again in this world ; but it 
is not so to be. Our noble, amiable, talented one has 
left us. Our gentle Philip Melanchthon is dust, and we 
wait patiently to meet him above, and to realize the truth 
of his own vision — we shall know each other there. Only 
a few short months ago we parted in a like manner from 
our dear Brother Hutter, when he too talked of, and 
awaited, and confidently expected his reward, without 
one doubt or sense of gloom. And so they pass from us 
and enter into rest, for " there remaineth a rest for the 
people of God." Sweet, indeed, must be the joy in 
the midst of sorrow to his loved ones, that husband and 
father has only gone to rest a little earlier in the day, 
and they shall meet him and know him in heaven. And 
may the lesson come to each one of us working i:i tlio 
Master's cause, ''Work while it is called to-day." 
G* 



118 THE STORK FAMILY IN THE LUTHERAN CHURCH. 
REV. S. A. HOLMAN, D. D., 

Of Philadelphia, writes: 

I had the pleasure of an intimate acquaintance with 
Dr. Theophilus Stork during the last six years of his 
life, and of his residence in this city. He possessed in 
an eminent degree " the wisdom that is from above ; 
pure, peaceable, gentle, easy to be entreated, full of 
mercy and good fruits, without partiality, without hypoc- 
risy." Not long before his death, some of the brethren 
were canvassing the characteristics of prominent men in 
the church, and whilst to some were conceded greater in- 
tellectual power and energy, it was admitted without dis- 
sent that none would be more highly exalted in the 
heavenly world than Dr. Stork. His spirit was of the 
type of the apostle John's. 'His preaching combined in 
a high degree the distinction which improves the mind, 
and the unction which touches the heart. His style was 
nervous and classical, and he was fond of illustrating 
truths by poetical quotations, which he selected with ad- 
mirable judgment. 

Dr. Stork was an early and steadfast friend of our 
rublication House, and aided it in its early struggles, 
more than once, in a substantial way. He originated 
The Lutheran Home 3Io)ithli/, which, after his death, 
was merged into The Au(/sbu7-g Teacher. 

His life and labors are worthy of being embodied in a 
volume which shall transmit the memory of his virtues to 
posterity. 



KEV. THEOPIIILUS STOKK, D. D. 119 

In Quarterly Review, January, 1875. 
REV. DR. J. A. BROWN. 

Having known Dr. Stork somewhat intimately for 
nearly a quarter of a century, and having been for a long 
time closely associated with him in labors, it may not be 
presumptuous for us to append a note to the sketch pre- 
sented by Dr. Diehl, in this number of the Review, 
This is done not with any design or hope of improving 
what has been said, but simply to add our individual tes- 
timony to his talents and worth as a minister of Christ. 
Such a testimony, indeed, may not be necessary after the 
record of his life is given, but it affords us a melancholy 
pleasure to be allowed thus to express our appreciation 
of the character of our departed friend and brother. Dr. 
Stork possessed a heart in an unusual degree free from 
guile. He was naturally confiding, and hence more eas- 
ily imposed on than many others of a more suspicious 
nature. His sympathies Avere tender and easily excited, 
and he trusted, at all times, more to his feelings than to 
his judgment. His errors, for he was prone like other 
men to err, were rather those of the head than of the 
heart. His talents and taste peculiarly fitted him for 
the pulpit. By nature and grace he was richly endowed 
to preach salvation to perishing sinners. He was not a 
man of patient, untiring study in one particular field, but 
loved to roam at large, admiring what was most attract- 
ive and beautiful in every department, and culling, wher- 
ever he could find them, the choicest flowers. Endowed 
with a quick and tender sensibility to the true, the beau- 
tiful and the good, his soul was readily fired by the grand 



120 THE STORK FAMILY IN THE LUTHERAN CHURCH. 

themes of the gospel. He disliked all shams in religion 
and worship. He was deeply in earnest when dealing 
with divine things. We have heard him at synods, and 
on other public occasions, as well as in the ordinary min- 
istrations of the sanctuary. Like all men of his tempera- 
ment, his preaching was very unequal. To be truly elo- 
quent, he needed to be aroused ; and never was he more 
truly in his element or more deeply in earnest, than when 
holding up Christ as the Saviour of the lost. Though not 
of a strictly theological cast of mind, he delighted in the 
great doctrines of grace, and presented them with great 
unction and power. There was a fervor and a glow, at 
times, that thrilled the heart. He was emphatically a 
heart preacher. Of all our ministers whom we have 
heard, none ever impressed us as Dr. Stork did, in his 
most touching and impassioned appeals. We have 
heard more learned and more logical discourses than he 
preached, but none that were better adapted to move the 
heart, or to stir the very depths of the soul. If we 
should attempt to analyze his preaching and to say in 
what his power consisted, it would not be difficult to point 
out the more prominent elements ; but there was a hidden 
fire, a mysterious magnetism, that must be felt to be ap- 
preciative. His elo(|uence was that of divine truth 
coming from a soul fired with the love of Christ, and 
intensely in earnest in the work of his Master. His 
poetic imagination, his tender sympathy, his earnest 
zeal, all contributed to give his utterances in the pulpit 
attractiveness and power. The eloquence was in the 
man and in his themes. The pulpit was his place of 



REV. THEOPHILUS STORK, D. D. 121 

greatest strength. It was here that his influence was 
most felt. Whilst he will be loved and cherished as a 
friend and a Christian, it will be as an ambassador of 
Christ, as a preacher of the gospel, that he will be best 
known and longest remembered. As such this feeble 
tribute is ofiered by one who loved and admired him. 

J. A. B. 

TRIBUTES TO DR. STORK. 

" The memory of the just is hlesuciy — Most of our 
Lutheran contemporaries, both German and English, 
have noticed the death of Dr. Stork, and after detailing 
the principal events of his life, bear a uniform testimony 
to his Christian character and usefulness. We take 
pleasure in translating and publishing the following: 

Dr. Krotel, in the Lutherische Herold of April 9th, 
bears the following testimony concerning Dr. Stork, as 
his successor at St. Mark's, Philadelphia: 

"' Dr. Stork was for many years one of the most be- 
loved ministers of the Lutheran church, and by his lovely 
character had won many hearts. As we entered, in 
1862, upon the discharge of our duties in St. Mark's 
congregation, organized by him, and which had also 
been served previously by Drs. C. A. Smith and C. P. 
Krauth, we had the opportunity of noticing the warm 
attachment which many still cherished toward him. We 
met him frequently and had the best opportunity of 
knowing him. 

" Our friends know on which side the departed stood, 
in the struggle through which our church was called to 



122 THE STORK FAMILY IN THE LUTHERAN CHURCH. 

pass during the last ten years, and we need not, there- 
fore, dwell upon that point. Although we differed from 
him on various points, and sometimes came in collision 
with him, we, nevertheless, cheerfully bear this testimony, 
that he was most heartily devoted to the church of his 
fathers ; that he sought her peace and prosperity, and 
that he clung, with a believing and child-like heart, to his 
Lord and Saviour. He always approached us in the 
most friendly manner, and after his recovery from his 
severe illness last year, he wrote us a charming letter, in 
which he expressed the earnest desire that all whom he 
had in any wise wounded, might forgive him as heartily 
as he forgave all who had trespassed against him. All 
of us have our weak side, and he was not an exception ; 
but when we take a retrospect of his earthly career, we 
thank tlie Lord for the good Avhich he has accomplished 
througli his servant, and say of the departed, May liis 
memory be blessed ! The Lord comfort the faithful com- 
panion of his life, who was to him for many years an 
affectionate helpmeet, and impart grace to the sons to 
follow the example of their father." 

The Zeitschrift of April 4th, says: 

"He who has fallen asleep in Jesus was, indeed, by 
his training an American Lutheran, but he loved the 
church of his fathers and desired her welfare. He was 
endowed with beautiful spiritual gifts and a noble soul. 
He belonged to the good men in the domain of the Gen- 
eral Synod, who rejoiced in the proposed Free Confer- 
ence, and hoped to live to see it, but who have been 
called hence through death, before the time and place of 



REV. TIIEOPHILUS STORK, D. D. 123 

its assembling had been determined. How many other 
leaders of the church may die before it transpires! " 

The Kirchenfreund of April 9th presents the princi- 
pal events of his life, and adds: 

"We are again called upon to announce the death of 
one of the most prominent and honored members of the 
General Synod, Rev. Dr. Stork. Besides his successful 
pastoral labors, his various writings have caused him to 
become widely known and beloved, both in and beyond 
the bounds of the Lutheran church. He leaves a widow 
and three sons, with whom the Lutheran church mourns 
in him one of her ablest and best ministers." 

The Lutheran appends the following to its notice of 
the obsequies of Dr. Stork: 

" So ended the earthly career of an amiable and much 
loved minister of Christ. He had his weaknesses, like 
all the rest of us ; let the recollection of them be buried 
with him. He had his worth and virtues ; them let us 
cherish and imitate. Before the same Judge we must all 
soon appear, and in the one only Saviour can any of us 
hope for salvation. Precious in the sight of the Lord is 
the death of his saints." 

RESOLUTIONS OF RESPECT. 

At a joint meeting of the church council and the board 
of officers of St. Mark's Lutheran church, Philadelphia, 
Pa., held Tuesday evening, the 7th inst., a committee 
was appointed to prepare suitable resolutions of respect 
with reference to the death of Dr. Stork, the first pastor 
of said church, who reported as follows : 



124 THE STORK FAMILY IN THE LUTHERAN CHURCH. 

Whereas, It has pleased Almighty God to remove from the 
toils of earth to the joys of heaven, Rev. Theophilus Stork, D. D., 
the founder and first pastor of this congregation ; therefore, 

Resolved, That while we bow in humble submission to the 
will of Him who in His own good time calls His servants home 
to their reward, we testify to the zeal, ability and conscientious- 
ness of our former beloved pastor, during all the period of his 
ministrations among us. 

Resolved, That we tender the afflicted family our sincere sym- 
pathy in their great and sore bereavement, and commend them 
to Him who alone can give comfort and consolation in the hour 
of sorrow and sadness. J. A. Kunkelman, 

Lewis L. Houpt, 
H. W. Knauff. 

The Harrishurg Telegraph contains the following no- 
tice of this sad event: 

'* A telegram from F. V. Beisel, Esq., Philadelphia, to 
Rev. G. F. Stelling, announces the death of Rev. Theo- 
philus Stork, D. D., in that city, at half past twelve 
o'clock last night. Dr. Stork was one of the noted di- 
vines of the Lutheran church. A most estimable man — 
a devout Christian — a successful preacher and pastor — a 
good writer and popular author, his death will occasion a 
profound sorrow thoughout the denomination to which he 
belonged." 

We also find the following notice of Dr. Stork's death 
in the Baltimore Americmi : 

" Rev. Dr. Theophilus Stork died at his residence, in 
Philadelphia, Pa., on Saturday morning last, in the six- 
tieth year of his age. He ranked for many years as one 
of the most prominent of his denomination for culture, 
eloquence and pastoral success. His literary attainments 



REV. TUEOPHILUS STORK, D. D. 125 

were of the highest order, and few could equal him in 
pulpit services. He was the first pastor of the flourish- 
ing congregation of St. Mark's on Eutaw street, and was 
succeeded in that church by his son, the present pastor. 
Many friends in Baltimore clierish his memory most 
fondly, and will sympathize most heartily with his family 
in their bereavement. The pastor of St. Mark's was 
summoned by telegram on Friday, and arrived in time to 
see his honored father breathe his last. The announce- 
ment of his death was made by Rev. Dr. Morris, at St. 
Mark's, during the Sunday morning service, and pro- 
duced a profound sensation, many tearful eyes giving ex- 
pression to the heart-memories of their former pastor. 
In the afternoon, the intelligence was communicated to 
the Sunday-scliool, where many of those who entered 
the church during his pastorate are now active and effi- 
cient workers. Humanly speaking, the Church can ill 
afford to lose such a man." 

TRIBUTES OF RESPECT. 

Philadelpuia, May 2, 1874. 
Mrs. Dr. Stork and Family ; Esteemed friends : Permit me 
lierewitli to present you with tlie annexed extract from the min- 
utes of proceedings of tlie last meeting- (the only meeting since 
the death of your loved one), of the Board of Trustees of our 
church, and helieve me, with warmest feelings of love and sym- 
pathy, 

Yours very truly, W. J. Miller. 

Whereas : Since the last meeting of this Board, our former 
pastor and much beloved brother. Rev. Dr. Stork, has been 
called to his rest ; and Whereas^ duty and affection alike bid us 
to take suitable note of this sad event, we therefore, the official 



126 THE STORK FAMILY IN THE LUTHERAN CHURCH. 

Board of St. Matthew's Evangelical Lutheran Church of the city 
of Philadelphia, Pa., place this our action upon record. 

Rev. Theophilus Stork, then of Winchester, Va., was unani- 
mously called to the pastoral care of this church in the year 
A. D. 1841. He entered his new field of labor under many dis- 
couragements, occasioned by the divided and distracted condi- 
tion of the congregation. By faithful labor and persevering 
prayer, howcvei-, a new era of progress was at once introduced. 
The list of members was rapidly increased, and precious seasons 
of revival w^ere granted from the "presence of the Lord." As 
a preacher, Dr. Stork was eminently scriptural and imj^ressive ; 
as a pastor he was faithful and sympathizing ; as a Christian he 
was earnest and exemplary. His guileless life and generous 
catholic spirit drew around him many strong and abiding friends. 
He was interested in all the prosi)ccts of his own church, and 
ever willing and ready to help in all general objects of Cluistian 
enterprise. He retained the pastoral charge of this congregation 
for nine years, and only resigned it to minister to the newly 
organized church of St. Mark's, which was composed of a colony 
from this church. 

Having now passed away, we would remember his works with 
gratitude, and cite his devotion, zeal and fidelity to Christ as 
worthy of all commendation. AVe desire to record our convic- 
tion that his labors were in a marked degree owned of God, to 
this and to each of the congregations with which he was con- 
nected, and that in his death the Lutheran church has lost a 
bright and cherished ornament, and the church of Christ an able 
and distinguished defender. 

Although he died before the infirmities of old age had come 
upon him, for "his eye was not dim, nor his natural force 
abated," yet could he with all propriety both say and write, as 
he did in the last known article from his pen, " I am now ready 
to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand." 

In view of this death, coming so quickly after that of his suc- 
cessor and intimate clerical fjiend, our late pastor. Rev. E. W. 
Hutter, D. D., we feel called upon, with chastened earnestness, 
to ponder anew the great fact that life is rapidly passing away, 
and that soon we too shall be called to render our account. 



REV. THEOPHILUS STORK, D. D. 127 

The example of our departed pastors is worthy our study and 
emulation, for we are commanded to ''remember them which 
have spoken unto us the Word of God. ' ' 

We extend to the sorrowing friends and relatives of our de- 
parted brother, the assurances of our sincerest sympathy and 
Christian condolence, rejoicing- with them also in the worthy 
life and peaceful death of him we all so sincerely mourn. 

Besolced, That this minute be communicated to the family of 
the deceased. 

Wm. J. MiLLEK, Secretary. 



REV. CHARLES A. STORK, D. D. 



CHAPTER I. 

BIRTH AND PARENTAGE — JUVENILE CHARACTER— SCHOOL DAYS 
— LETTER OF HIS UNCLE JUDGE LYNCH — AT SCHOOL AT GET- 
TYSBURG — AT HARTWUK — HARTWICK REMINISCENCES — LET- 
TERS OF HIS TARENTS— HIS CONVERSION — REV. DR. HILLER — 
PROF. PITCHER — LETTERS FROM FRIENDS AND HIS PARENTS. 



A 



S lias been seen in the two preceding biographical 
sketches, both the grandfather and father of Charles 
A. Stork were Lutheran divines of eminent rank and 
wide-spread influence. Their names will be honored in 
the Lutheran Church for many years to come, and their 
highly-gifted and learned descendant will share with 
them their well-earned fame. 

Charles was born on September 4, 1838, at the home 
of his maternal grandfather, AVilliam Lynch, Esq., near 
the village of Jefterson, Frederick county, Maryland. 
His father was Rev. Mr. Theophilus Stork, and his 
mother was Mary Jane Lynch Stork, daughter of the 
gentleman above named, and sister of the present Judge 
Lynch, of Frederick county. Mr. Stork was at this 
time pastor of the church at Winchester, Va. Three 
years after his birth, the child was taken to Philadelphia, 
where his father had accepted a call as pastor to St. Mat- 

(.128) 



REV. CHARLES A. STORK, D. D. 129 

thew's church. Five years after, in 1846, his mother 
died, near Germantown, and he and his younger brother 
William were left to the care of their bereaved father. 
Charles was now sent to a school kept by Rev. Lewis 
Eichelberger, in Winchester, Va., where, besides being 
taught the rudiments of education, he received some ex- 
perimental instruction in the mysteries of the nursery 
which are not usually set down in the program of an 
academy. His juvenile indignation was often roused, 
because, Avith all his endearing caresses and soothing 
cradle-rockings, he could not quiet the clamors of his in- 
fantile charge. He has said, however, that he there laid 
a solid foundation for Latin. 

The following interesting incident is mentioned by Dr. 
T. Stork in a letter to a friend in Winchester, dated Feb- 
ruary 19, 1844: ''The children are all well and happy. 
Charles begins to read, and is of quite a serious turn of 
mind. Yesterday his mother was reading to him from 
the Bible, when he suddenly burst into tears and said, 
^ mother, I am so wricked — how will I meet Jesus in 
judgment?' and then asked her to pray for him. And 
then Mary Jane and Charles and William knelt down in 
prayer together. It must have been ({uite an affecting 
scene. I was not present. Many of his summers during 
his boyhood were spent on the farm of his grandfather in 
Frederick county, where he continued to show an intense 
fondness for books, which was displayed from the time 
he had learned to read, and which ceased only with his 
death. 

He seemed to take no delight in boyish sports, and was 



180 THE STORK FAMILY IN THE LUTHERAN CHURCH. 

consequently looked upon as morose and unsociable by 
his juvenile schoolmates. He would usually betake him- 
self to some solitary place, the garret, the barn or a 
shady retreat in the woods, and there he would spend 
hours in reading books suitable to his capacity ; but even 
as a boy his mental capacity was large, and books of an 
elevated character were thus read by him, and what he 
read he remembered. He was the most knowing lad 
within the acquaintance of many intelligent persons. In 
a letter from his stepmother, which will be inserted in its 
proper place, she says, " But, dear Charlie, how is it that 
you want ' The Arabian Nights ? ' I thought you knew it 
hy heart —J ou. have read it so often! " He was not over 
fourteen at that time, and the same might have been said 
of many other books in English literature — he knew them 
by heart, he had read them so often — and in many cases 
a single reading was sufficient to fasten every fact on his 
memory never to be erased. 

The following letter from his uncle. Judge Lynch, 
comes in appropriately here : 

Feedekick, M(1., March 14, 1855. 

* * -x- -X- Cbarles, when a boy, spent much of his time hi 
the summer season at my father's house. lie was a quiet and 
studious lad ; of a very sweet disposition, obedient and very re- 
spectful to his grandparents and liis aunts, who had the care of 
him. 

For one of his age, he was unusually fond of reading ; I re- 
member there were in the house old files of a paper, called, I 
think, TJie Neto World, full of interesting articles and stories of 
fiction. While the other children were at play, he would take 
these papers to a quiet room upstairs, lie flat upon his stomach 
on the floor, and read for hours at a time. He seemed to under- 
stand and remember what he read. 



REV. CHARLES A. STORK, D. D. 131 

He never seemed fond of play. His brother Willie would 
often complain that Charlie was too lazy "to play with him and 
the negro boys on the farm." 

When Charles was quite young, and before he went to Hart- 
wick, I took him to a school in Winchester, Va., kept by Rev. 
Mr. Eichelberger. The only comment I ever heard him make 
upon the exercises of that school, was the complaint that, when 
not in the schoolroom, he was frequently required to "rock the 
baby," and when no one was present he would sometimes give 
the " baby " a slap. He was a remarkably good boy, especially 
kind and gentle towards the negro children on the farm, and was 
a great favorite with them all. And I think I might truly say 
of him, "And the child Samuel grew on, and was in favor both 
with the Lord and also with men. ' ' 

As a man and a minister he was well known to you ; and the 
Christian heroism with which he bore his long and painful sick- 
ness, we all remember. 

TAKEN TO GETTYSBURG TO SCHOOL IN 1851. 

At the age of 13, he was entered as a pupil in the 
preparatory school at Gettysburg, but he remained less 
than a year. He was sent there to prepare for admis- 
sion into Pennsylvania College, but his father soon took 
him away, and he never afterwards patronized either the 
College or Seminary at that place. 

The only information I could receive concerning 
Charles' career there, is furnished in the following letter 
from a respected layman, now living in Illinois: 

Among the most cherished pictures of years gone by, which 
memory holds dear, is the bright cheery countenance and vig- 
orous youthful form of a lovely lad with whom I lived in Penn- 
sylvania College as room-mate about G weeks, near the close of 
a summer session, the summer (I think) of '51. We were asso- 
ciated in this relation, and for this brief time, by the absence 
from college of Seniors after their final examination. During 



132 THE STORK FAMILY IN THE LUTHERAN CHURCH. 

tills brief space of time, the only time we were destined to spend 
together on earth, I learned to love that youth as I have loved 
few beings on earth since. The brilliancy of his mind, the vivac- 
ity and sprightliness of his disposition, the patience, kindness 
and courtesy of his demeanor, are alike deeply engraven upon 
my memory and heart, and cherished among the choicest treas- 
ures of earlier associations. 

In our eagerness to make time on those college stairways, we 
vied with each other, as students, in the number of steps one 
could distance at a single bound, whether we might be going up 
or down, and it so happened that Charles, in his eagei-ness to fly 
down stairs, sprained his ankle, which was the occasion of his 
confinement to our room a week or more, and of his going 
rather lame during a fortnight or so afterwards ; and the way 
that child devoured books and reading matter while necessarily 
absent from recitation, was amazing to contemplate. A part of 
my time was pleasantly spent in waiting upon him, and in con- 
veying food for mind and body to the youthful j)atient. But, 
though I rejoiced in the development of that youthful prodigy 
(for such I ever regarded him), and often eagerly hoped again 
to enjoy the sunshine of his magnetic personal presence, the fell 
destroyer intervened, and the pure spirit of my friend is bask- 
ing in the glorious sunlight of His presence whom he delighted 
to honor upon earth. n. g. t. 

I remember hearing Dr. Stork say that, during a long 
confinement, occasioned by a sprained foot, probably that 
alluded to above, he took lessons in Latin from one 
of our German ministers, who compelled him to read 
Horace over and over again until he got sick of him ; but, 
said he, " when that teacher ceased giving me lessons, 1 
knew Latin f^^ 

I think that frequent repetition is the secret of success- 
ful teaching and learning. 



IIEV. CHARLES A. STORK, D. D. ISS 

TAKEN TO HARTWICK. 

In 1852 he was taken with some other Philadelphia 
boys whose fathers were members of Dr. Stork's church, 
to Hartwick Seminary in New York, the classical depart- 
ment of which was at that time conducted by Rev. Dr. 
Miller. 

I have been kindly furnished by some of his contem- 
poraries at that place Avith some interesting reminiscences, 
which I shall here introduce, as well as some important 
family letters, all of which set forth the character of this 
most promising boy in a more impressive light than a 
mere narrative could do. 

HARTWICK REMINISCENCES. 

A fellow pupil of Charles A. Stork at Hartwick, thus 
writes: "When 'Charlie,' as we called him, delivered 
his maiden speech at the commencement exercises of the 
Seminary, Drs. Pohlman, Senderling, G. B. Miller, and 
many other prominent men, were present. Charlie per- 
formed his part so well that the boy gave promise of the 
coming great and good man. Dr. Stork, his father, at that 
time was in his prime, and his name and praise were in 
all the churches in York State. When the young orator 
had finished his address, there was a general and sincere 
applause, especially among the preachers and older per- 
sons in the crowd. Dr. Pohlman expressed the senti- 
ment of all when he exclaimed in an audible whisper, 
'This young Storkling will outwing the old Stork some 
day.' Charlie was a universal favorite during his school 
days at Hartwick." 



134 THE STORK FAMILY IN THE LUTHERAN CHURCH. 

LETTER FROM MRS. E. B. STORK TO CHARLES. 

My Dearest Charles: Your prompt, ingenuous, and affectionate 
letter aftorded me unmixed satisfaction ; and in return we have 
all endeavored to please you by attending to your requests, which 
have been so modestly and sweetly presented. *. * * Your 
dear father is as well pleased as I am with your affectionate let- 
ters, and you have given us good evidence that you are attending 
to the growth of the heart as well as to the expansion of your 
mind. This is as it should be, and we feel quite honored by 
your request for our photograph likenesses. * * * I have the 
books you wrote for. ^ * * My mother sends you . . for 
Christmas money, to which I add an equal amount, besides 
sending you lots of other good Christmas things, such as boys 
of your age like. '■■ * * I also enclose a . . gold piece ; do 
not spend it foolishly. 

In another letter on family subjects, Mrs. Stork says 
in conclusion : 

And now, my dearest child, lastly but not least among your 
list of duties, how is it with your soul? — are you living for eter- 
nity? Remember your responsibility even as a school boy, 
* ' Watch and pray. ' ' Cherish the si ncerest love for your mother, 
and may the richest divine blessing be upon you, and may God's 
Spirit shield you from all evil. 

FROM MRS. B. B. STORK TO CHARLES AT HARTWICK. 

Philadelphia, December 6th, 1853. 
My Dear Charles : We will try to send you what you have al- 
ready written for. But dear Charlie, how is it that you want the 
"Arabian Nights?" I thought you knew it by heart, you have 
read it so often. Do you love your precious Bible as much? 
How often do you read it ? And do you remember prayer f 
Oh ! my beloved child, these are the chief things to engage our 
earnest attention as travellers to eternity. Oh, do not trifle by 
the way, and perhaps lose your immortal soul, for a shadow, an 
empty dream. I do pray that you may be kept from bad books. 



REV. CHARLES A. STORK, B. D. 135 

This is your great danger and temptation. Never take up a 
volume over which you cannot ask God's blessing. This is your 
only safeguard amidst the impure and infidel publications of 
the day. Shun the first thought of impurity and evil as you 
hope to be saved. "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall 
see God." "Evil communications corrupt good manners." 

FROM MRS. E. B. STORK TO CHARLES. 

Philadelphia, Wednesday, Jan. 19th, 1853. 
My Dear Charles: We are all of us delighted to find ourselves 
so affectionately remembered by you. I regret that you have been 
sick : perhaps you expose yourself too much to the cold ; be care- 
ful, do not run into any danger upon the ice. You know you are 
rather heedless and incautious, and, my dear, you must recollect 
your other accidents as a check upon yourself. I df sire that you 
should be strong-nerved and heroic, but the truly courageous 
are always prudent and self-possessed. Be, therefore, cheerful 
and active, but not venturesome. How did you get your skates? 
I am pleased that you have an opportunity of mixing in good 
and educated female society — it tends to refine the manners, and 
to remove the natural bashfulness and awkwardness of young 
boys and men. We enjoyed a most bountiful Christmas, and 
had a large number of good and serviceable gifts made to us by 
our friends. I was not well during the holidays. I have one 
lequest to prefer, wiiich I trust you will not refuse or neglect, 
for the sake of one who loves you; it is that you will resolve, 
by the help of God, to bow your knees in prayer every night and 
morning of this new year. The Lord help you, rny dear child, 
and enable you to overcome all evil. 

Tour afifectionate Mother. 

FROM DR. T. STORK (on the same sheet'). 

Dear Charles : I am happy to hear you are so happy, and en- 
gaged so studiously in your duties. Nothing so cheers us as to 
hear of your doing well. The professors gave a very satisfac- 
tory account of all the Philadelphia boys. Try and always give 
us this satisfaction. 



136 THE STORK FAMILY IN THE LUTHERAN CHURCH. 

FROxM THE PARE]STS TO CHARLES AT HARTWICK SCHOOL. 

Philadelphia, February 3, 1853. 

My Dearest Charles : You must not allow yourself even to 
imagine that I could forget you — no, indeed — you are ever on 
my lieart, and in my prayers. And I would have made an en- 
deavor to cheer you up ere this, if I could have known that 
you were ever a sufferer from heaviness of heart. 

It must be teiribly cold up there, and I am afraid your health 
may be impaired. How does it agree with your constitution? 
Are you warmly clad, and especially is your room kept com- 
fortable, and are you well provided with bed covering ? I am 
sorry that you had to shiver and shake so while writing your 
very interesting letter, and I should imagine that the intense 
cold weather would most effectually chase the blues from your 
soul. 

We all laughed heartily over your description of a "Dona- 
tion party," and your "rustic belle.*' AVhat is she like, physi- 
cally and mentally ? And so your lieart is not worth losing? 
Your father and I have set a much richer estimate upon your 
heart than you liave, my boy. We think your capacities for 
loving are developing more and more, towards us, and we are 
delighted with your affection and ingenuous outgushings of 
youthful feeling. 

I am pleased that you endeavor to make yourself agreeable 
to all around you, and that you are a favorite with Dr. Miller's 
family, and with your companions generally. Make a good 
use of your influence, and be ever high-minded and truthful. Be 
not too sensitive, and keep out of the way of tattlers and busy- 
bodies ; these are the most dangerous kind of people, corrux)ting 
alike the heart and the mind. Be not afraid of men, but 
honor "God, who has power to cast both soul and body into 
hell." 

I should like to hear Bulwer's history of a man who "died 
of a good heart," although this author is rather a question- 
able authority for anything, radically good. Suppose you write 
it out for us in your next letter. The terms ' ' good ' ' and ' ' bad ' ' 
depend very much upon the balance in which they are weighed. 



REV. CHARLES A. STORK, D. D. 137 

I always weigh them in the balance of the sanctuary, and 
with reference to eternity. But if they are graded according to 
the world, and solely in refei'ence to time — the same words will 
differ very widely in their meaning. Which of these scales do 
you use, when you prefer a good mind to a good heart ? The 
Bible says, "The heart of the wise teacheth his tongue and 
addeth learning to his lips." It is pleasant to have a powerful 
intellect, and to exercise a mental force that shall be felt by all 
our compeers ; but considering all things, I think I would rather 
solicit from high heaven a pure and holy heart ; for my dear 
boy will find as great a difficulty in making (or in acquiring in 
the course of time) a good heart out of a bad one, as he would 
in making a powerful and good mind out of a weak and inferior 
one. Let no sophistry delude thee, "Every good gift, and 
every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the 
Father of light, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow 
of turning." And a "poor mind" could get wisdom also, if 
united to a right state of heart. "For if any man lack wisdom, 
let him ask of God, who giveth to all men liberally and upbraid- 
eth not." Thus you see, according to my scales, yours might 
not in the end prove to be a prudent and safe choice. I am not 
in the least surprised that you should bo for a moment dazzled 
by its apparent desirableness. I wish you were among us again. 
I do not like this separation of children from the home circle. 
Willie will write to you soon : he wonders what makes you so 
gloomy. He says "He feels sad sometimes, but he don't know- 
why," and he thinks you don't know the cause either. Your 
father says you are like liim, that he used to feel like you, and 
often he would sit by himself, and weep bitterly ; it may be con- 
stitutional, and you must not give way to a vague, melancholy 
feeling ; try to regulate your feelings by reason, and conscience, 
and prayer. Seek to know the true cause, and then consolation 
will creep in, and gradually dissipate the gloom. Abbott says, 
"It is some secret, unacknowledged, discontent with ourselves 
which produces this uneasiness. It is unrepented sin weighing 
upon the conscience, and can only be permanently cured by the 
forgiveness of God, and His peace abiding in the soul. ' ' 



138 THE STORK FAMILY IN THE LUTHERAN CHURCH. 

If it is the movement of tlie Spirit of God upon your soul, 
strange as it may be to you, I must rejoice, and instead of pray- 
ing that you may "regain your spirits," I must pray that you 
may be yet more unhappy in yourself, until you shall find peace 
in Jesus. 

"None but Jesus, none but Jesus, 

Can do helpless sinners good." 
" Cold as I feel this heart of mine, yet, since I feel it so— 

It gives some signs of life within, however low." 

Can you sympathize with these lines ? Do you pray morning 
and evening ? You did not reply to my questions in my last 
letter. Will you be particular to reply to them in your next? 
Catherine sends her love, and now may the "Friend of Sinners" 
help you in your despondency, aud give light to your darkness. 
He is ever near thee to cheer. Thus prays your affectionate 
mother, Emma B. Stork. 

Dear Charles : Mother has given you the best advice. I hope 
you will receive it and practice it, as it comes from one that 
loves you very dearly. 

I used to feel very sad when at school away from home ; it 
will gradually pass away. But, if you do not behave kindly to 
those around you, and thus excite their opposition, you must 
try to behave better. You never can expect to be happy unless 
you do right. And a powerful intellect without a good heart is 
an awful curse, instead of a blessing, "For what will it profit 
a man if he gain the whole world and lose his soul." You 
must not forget Eternity. Though you are young, you may 
die, and what would become of your soul if you do not seek 
forgiveness in the blood of Jesus ? Give your heart to Christ, and 
then you will be happy. I am glad to hear of your progress in 
study. Think of our trip (next summer, if God spares us) to 
Niagara, and cheer up. May God help you, my dear Charles, 
and the greatest pleasure will be to hear that you strive to be- 
have well and be good. Your affectionate father, 

T. Stork. 



139 



FROM MRS. E. B. STORK TO CHARLES, AT HARTWICK. 

Philadelphia, March 29, 1853. 

There is one alarming sign about your mental 

taste, which grieves and disturbs my heart : it is your fondness 
for novels, and that you should admire such writers as Bulwer, 
Byron, and others of like stamp. This occasions me much un- 
easiness, for I fear you may imbibe some of the pernicious prin- 
ciples which they insidiously inculcate. You well know they 
were men of immoral lives, and you would not dare to associate 
with such ; and yet you like to pore over their books without 
contamination of heart. My dear child, the Bible says, that no 
fountain can send forth, at the same time, both sweet and bitter 
waters, and "a bad tree cannot bring forth good fruit." I fear 
you are self-deceived in this matter ; be assured that this evil is 
no slight one against which I would guard you ; it may keep you 
out of the kingdom of heaven. 

I will give you some safe rules, to which, as you value your 
immortal soul, I beseech you to give heed. They are given 
by Leigh Richmond to his children: "Characters are speedily 
discerned by their choice of books. Novels in prose I need not 
now forbid ; ignorant as you are of their bad tendency by expe- 
rience, you, lam persuaded, trust me on that head, and you will 
never sacrifice time, attention or affection to them. But beware 
of novels in verse. Poets are more dangerous than prose writers 
when their principles are bad. Were Lord Byron no better poet 
than he is a man, he might have done little harm ; but when a 
bad man makes his good poetry the vehicle of his bad sentiments, 
he does mischief by wholesale." 

The best rule with regard to books is this: " Books are good 
or bad in their effects as they make us relish the Word of God 
the more or less, after we have read them." Be cheerful, but 
not a giggler. Be serious, but not dull. Be communicative, but 
not forward. Be kind, but not servile. Remember, God's eye 
is in every place, and His ear in every company. Beware of 
levity and familiarity with young women ; a modest reserve is 
the only safe path. Grace is needful here— ask for it in prayer. 
Strive to maintain a praying mind through the day, not only at 



140 THE STORK FAMILY IN THE LUTHERAN CHURCH. 

the usual stated periods, but everywhere, and at all times and in 
all companies. This is your best preservative against error, 
weakness ; and always remember that you are in the midst of 
temptations, and never more so than when pleased with out- 
ward objects and intercourse. Pray and watch. 

My dear Charles, I feel very serious. We have had a season of 
refreshing from the Great Head of the Church upon our Luth- 
eran Zion. Your dear father has been greatly blessed in his 
labors, and on Easter Sunday he received by baptism and con- 
firmation, and by profession and certificate, eighty-one persons 
into the church. It was a solemn occasion, and all our hearts 
were stirred — the church was crowded, and settees were placed 
in the aisles, and numbers could not get in in the morning. The 
Communion was in the evening. The Saviour seemed visibly 
present among us, and we trust it will be a day long to be re- 
membered by us all. Oh ! that you had been here to have par- 
taken in the blessing ; but our prayers are following you, and 
we trust the Lord will enable you to give yourself to Him in an 
everlasting covenant, and to be numbered among His saints. 

FROM MRS. E. B. STORK, TO CHARLES, WHILE AT HARTWICK 

SEMINARY, AND WHEN HE WAS SIXTEEN YEARS OF AGE. 

Philadelphia, December 12, 1853. 
My Dear Charles : I was glad to hear from you, as well as in- 
terested and amused with your letter. I am glad also that you 

are kept so busy with your studies Your aunt, 

Sarah Lynch, mentions your having written to their family, and 
that your amusing style of writing afforded them much gratifi- 
cation Your dear father is better, and his book 

(Children of the New Testament) will be out to-morrow, and I 

hope he will take a good rest in body and mind lam 

sorry you will be disappointed in not keeping " Christmas at 
home" this year, but it will not be so cheerful a one to us, as 
there are so many of our friends sick and dying. 

I have no remedy for failing spirits and dark, melancholy 
hours, but active exertion in some useful pursuit, and prayer and 



REV. CHARLES A. STORK, D. D. 141 

praise. "Is any one afflicted, let him pray; is any merry, let 
him sing psalms." 

I trust that my dear boy, amid the preparation and bustle of 
this life, is not forgetting the "one thing needful." 



(To the above are appended a few lines from the 
father.) 

I am now about as usual, but I sometimes think that my 
church (St. Mark's, Philadelphia) is too large for the strength 
of my throat. It is with great difficulty I can preach twice a 
day. Perhaps a different position would suit me better. 



HIS CONVERSION. 
Reminiscence of Dr. C. A. Stork, by Dr. A. Hiller. 

Dr. Stork came to Hartwick Seminary in the fall of '51 or the 
spring of '52, and remained here until the close of the summer 
term of 1854. He boarded in the family of Dr. Miller, and 
some of the Doctor's children who wore home at the time, and 
were near young Stork's age, have pleasant memories of his 
school-boy days. He was quite young when his father brought 
him here, but soon became a great favorite. He was good 
company for those of his own age and even his elders, was full 
of wit and humor, and after study hours in the evening, he 
joined heartily in the sports of the youngsters at Dr. Miller's 
house, his favorite game being " Consequences.'''' 

He was very fond of reading, and always had a book on hand 
which he managed to find time to read without neglecting his 
lessons, which he acquired very easily. In this way he gathered 
information rapidly, and used it to good advantage in his de- 
bates in the Philophronean Society, of which he soon became an 
active member. I well remember a very quaint and original 
composition he read on a public occasion while here, on the 
subject " The Last Man,^^ in which he very graphically por- 
trayed the winding up of the world's history, as viewed from the 
stand-point of the last surviving inhabitant. About this time, 
7* 



142 THE STORK FAMILY IN THE LUTHERAN CHURCH. 

when his active inquiring mind was beginning to assume free- 
dom of thought and speculation that had no special regard to 
orthodoxy, in the good providence of God he was converted to 
Christ. I remember the circumstances very well. At that time 
it was Dr. Miller's custom to hold cottage prayer-meetings on 
Sabbath evening at the different houses in the neighborhood. 
At one of these meetings, at the house of Mr. D , to the sur- 
prise of all present, Miss M became very deeply impressed, 

and with a good deal of emotion arose and asked for prayers. 

She was followed by her associate. Miss D . This unexpected 

demonstration of the Spirit's presence, sensibly effected all in 
the room, not excepting young Stork. These two young ladies 
who arose for prayer were associates of his, with whom he was 
quite intimate, one being Dr. Miller's youngest daughter. My 
chum, Dr. jNIagee and I, that night when we returned from the 
meeting, on entering the Seminary campus, heard some one 
making a good deal of noise in the south wing of the building, 
and on listening we discovered that it was Charley Stork's voice. 
He had rushed out of the meeting ahead of us, and, as it after- 
wards proved, was making this demonstration with the view of 
throwing off his conviction. Dr. Miller, on discovering the 
presence of a special religious interest, appointed prayer-meeting 
for every evening during the ensuing week, and soon Charley 
became so burdened with a sense of personal guilt, that he went 
to Dr. Miller for advice. He gave up his studies, and I think, 
for a week. Dr. Miller talked and prayed with him and gave 
him suitable books to read. He came in our room, and Magee 
and I talked and prayed with him, and did what we could to 
lead him to the Saviour. For several days he thus continued an 
earnest, anxious inquirer, giving himself v»'holly to the question 
of his own personal salvation. It was during this time that the 

prayer-meeting was held at Squire D 's, to which Bro. Magee 

refers in his reminiscence as published in the Observer. It was 
really after several days of patient, prayerful seeking, that 
Charley (as we all called him) found Jesus. 

On the 24th of December, 1853, he was confirmed by Dr. 
Miller, and thus received as a member of the Hartwick Semi- 



REV. CHARLES A. STORK, D. D. 143 

nary Lutheran church. I don't think that Charley ever took a 
letter from this church ; at least the records do not indicate it. 
The only note appended to his name is '^removed.^^ 

The Professors and Christian students who were here at that 
time greatly rejoiced when Charley Stork was converted to 
Christ, for we saw that he was a boy of unusual promise, and 
that if spared would be a power in the world, and we were 
anxious that that power should be devoted to the cause of truth 
and right and to the upbuilding of the church. 

REMINISCENCES OF DR. STORK. 

Dr. Irving Magee, of Rondout, N. Y., in a private let- 
ter written on learning of the death of Dr. Stork, gives 
the following pleasant reminiscences of him when they 
were boys together at college : 

"Not only was Dr. Stork a class-mate in Williams, but we 
were room-matefi and each other's most intimate friends all 
through. We spent three years together at Hartwick fitting for 
college. I was there his Bible-class teacher in the Sabbath- 
school, and most intimately associated with his conversion. It 
has always been, and more so now, a most precious thing to me, 
that he said to me some ten years ago about as follows : ' Do 
you know. Chum, that you said the words which, under God, 
brought about my conversion ? You remember the cottage 
prayer-meetings at Hartwick. Well, after a meeting at Esquire 

D 's, as we were coming out of the gate, you took my arm 

and walked down to the Seminary and talked to me about be- 
coming a Christian. It impressed me very deeply. I went to 
my room and prayed, and date my conversion from that walk 
and conversation with you. ' 

*' He had before mentioned a strange experience of that night. 
He felt very rebellious and resistant. He had been taught 
always to read his Bible and pray before retiring. He went to 
his room in a veritable tumult of teeling. He threw his hat in 
one corner and his coat in another, and paced the floor. He 
finally stopped in the middle of the room, took out a penny, put 



144 THE STORK FAMILY IN THE LUTHERAN CHURCH. 

his feet apart, and bending forward and with a sort of reckless 
wildness unlike himself at any other time, said : ' Heads I read, 
tails I don't read" — and tossed the penny. It fell heads. It 
seemed as if God had spoken to him from the subdued manner 
in which he added : ' I took my Bible and read and prayed and 
gave myself to the Saviour.' 

"He was always the same lovable fellow in college that he 
has always been since, and was a great favorite with every one. 
I think it will be pleasant for you to know that he was especially 
such with President Garfield, who was with us there, "We were 
members of the same society, and were frequently in each other's 
rooms. Charley was one of the youngest and smallest boys in 
college. I have known Garfield to sit for long times with his 
arms about Charley in the most lovable and brotherly way. This 
fondness continued till he died. It is very pleasant to recall 
them both now. 

"We were settled side by side, you know, too, in Baltimore, 
and our relations were the most intimate, loving and unbroken 
from first to last. I never loved any one more dearly, and he 
was right royally worthy of it." 



ITS PRINCIPAL. 

When I came here a student twenty years ago, the traditions 
of "Charley Stork'' were yet quite vivid. I remember the say- 
ing that was common, " that although Dr. Theophilr.s was an 
eminent divine, yet that the young Stork would fly higher than 
the old one." The habits of the student Stork must have been 
somewhat peculiar, as I have often heard that he was not very 
particular with liis person or his clothing ; indeed, it is said that 
3Irs, Miller had to take him in hand occasionally with regard to 
his toilet ; and a lady speaking of him said, he invariably rolled 
up his pants when he was out, and left them rolled uj) whereso- 
ever he was. 

It is related of him and his three Philadelphia friends, that 
one Christmas they received a present of each a sled, and they 
were put up in the form of a box, and within were packed the 



145 

various presents which parents and friends sent for their Christ- 
mas presents. Each of the boys had a special female friend, and 
it was the amusement of all on-lookers to see the boys draw 
their girls up and do^Yn street on their new sleds. 

It is no doubt a most fortunate Providence that he was con- 
verted here just at the time he was. He is said to have had at 
that time a remarkably inquiring mind, and was never sat- 
isfied short of seeing the reason for things. This tendency, un- 
balanced by a religious conviction, was steadily leading him in- 
to a mild skepticism, and I liave often heard it said that he 
would have made a " first-class infidel." It is, therefore, a very 
gratifying fact that his mind was turned to the truth, and he 
saved to the Church and the Gospel. J. P. 

The following letter from a friend, although dated long 
after the occurrence of the events narrated in several of 
the preceding pages, yet will be adjudged not to be in- 
appropriately placed here : 

In 1873 Dr. Stork, jr., delivered a lecture to the Seminary 
students at Gettysburg — I think it was the Rice Lecture . Am ong 
other good points he made these : Personal piety and personal 
character, and in a discussion that arose among those present, 
he maintained, that in order to a successful ministry a man 
must have these two, i. e. there must be a Christian man back 
of all natural and acquired endowments, etc., and then related 
this: "The silent influence of two men of undoubted Chris- 
tian character have had more to do in forming my character and 
the bent of my mental activity than all others combined, so far 
as I can judge. These two men were Rev. Dr. G. B. Miller, of 
Hartwick Seminary, of whose teaching I now remember noth- 
ing, for I was quite young then yet when he was my teacher, 
and the President of Williams College, from whose philosophy 
I dissent entirely ; but their godly characters have gone with 
me a silent, 'powerful influence through life.'''' This made a deep 
impression on the students and all present. Dr. Stork made 
this statement with great earnest emphasis. 



146 THE STORK FAMILY IN THE LUTHERAN CHURCH. 

In the afternoon of that same day I called on Dr. Stork, and 
presented him a steel engraving of Rev. Dr. Miller, such as are 
found in a volume of Dr. Miller's sermons. Dr. Stork recog- 
nized his old teacher at a glance, and then repeated substan- 
tially the statement above given. I spent a pleasant hour with 
the Doctor in pleasant chat about Hartwick and its associations. 
Dr. Stork has left the Church just such a precious legacy — a 
Christian character — consecrated manhood. 

0. W. E. 

LETTER FROM MRS. E. B. STORK. 

October 31, 1854. 

My Dear Charles : I do feel thankful that you know 

the power of .Jesus' grace to sustain you, my dear child, in your 
conflicts. Drink deep draughts at this fountain to sustain you 
in this wilderness, for, oh ! my child, you will need it in these 
latter days, when "iniquity abounds'" — let not " your love grow 
cold," for "he only that endureth to the end shall be saved." 
I tremble for you, but I pray also, and an Almighty arm will 
sustain you, and give you the final victory. Persevere unto the 
end and thou shalt be saved. I rejoice that you can "delight 
thyself in the Lord (in the holy profession which you have 
chosen), and He will certainly give thee the desire of thine 
heart," and souls shall be thy hire and reward in the day of the 
Lord Jesus I sigh for deliverance, and in some mo- 
ments of "heaviness through manifold temptations," I could 
fain wish we were all safely landed upon the shores of the heav- 
enly Canaan, 

•• But present duty I'll fulfill, 
And patient wait my Master's will." 
" Thotigli arduous the struggle, 't will cease before long, 
And then, oil .' hoAV pleasant the conqiieror's song." 

"Resist the devil, and he will flee from thee." Believe, only 
believe. "All things are possible to him that believeth." 

FROM DR. T. STORK (^on mine sheet'). 

Dear Charles : I was delighted with your last let- 
ter. I trust, dear Charles, you will hold fast the profession of 



147 

your faith, and let nothing move you. God has promised that 
His grace shall be sufiQcient. And that declaration of Christ con- 
cerning His love to His disciples — "As the Father hath loved me, 
so have I loved you." O, how precious is the love of Jesus ! We 
will pray for you, and if you look to Jesus you shall never fall. 

LETTER FROM HIS FATHER. 

My Dear Charles : I have been so much engrossed with vari- 
ous extra duties, such as delivering lectures before various in- 
stitutes and societies, that I have neglected to write to you for 
some time. I am happy to hear, that although you have evil 
imaginings and inward trials, you are determined to persevere. 
If you had not trials and conflicts, your conversion would be 
susiDicious. For the moment we decide for Christ, then will be- 
gin a warfare which will have to be waged with more or less 
severity through life. But he that endures to the end shall be 
saved. " Be thou faithful unto death," said Jesus, "and I will 
give thee a crown of life." He that is for you is greater than 
all that are against you. He will not sufter you to be tempted 
above what you are able to bear. Only look to Jesus, by faith 
and prayer. Hold fast the profession of your faith, for He is 
faithful that promised. You are never forgotten in our prayers. 

It will be necessary for you to to begin to think about when 
you expect to finish your collegiate studies. What do you 
think of Gettysburg now ? How would you like Williams Col- 
lege? Or how would you like to graduate in the University 
here? Then you could be at home. It is comparatively a 
matter of little importance about the institution in which a man 
graduates — for every man, after all, must make Mmself, if he is 
ever to be anything. Of course I mean under the blessing of 
God. Please let me know your feelings on these points. In re- 
gard to your studying for the ministry, you know my senti- 
ments — you know that it would afford me the greatest satis- 
faction, and that no earthly honors in any sphere of human 
station would be as grateful to me as to see you a devoted and 
respectable and useful minister of Christ. But, then, you muse 



148 THE STOEK FAMILY IN THE LUTHERAN CHURCH. 

be influenced not by any desire simply to gratify me, but you 
should feel constrained by a conviction of duty and a sincere de- 
sire to glorify God. If you sincerely seek to know the will of 
God, the path of duty will be made plain. 

ANOTHER LETTER FROM HIS FATHER. 

Philadelphia, April 2, 1855. 

My Bear Charles : I have seen from time to time 

notices of the religious interest at Williams College. I rejoice 
that so many of the young have consecrated themselves to 
Christ. God grant that many of them may devote themselves 
to the noble and Christ-like work of the ministry ! I am glad, 
too, that you have shared in the grace, and that your soul has 
been refreshed and your faith strengthened. May you hold fast 
to the profession of your faith — steadfast to the end. 

I hope you will make good use of your time, and prepare 
yourself well for a " workman that needeth not to be ashamed 
of his work." The older you grow the more will your judgment 
and conscience approve of the course you have adopted — the 
more glorious will appear the work of the ministry, and the 
more vivid your conscious unwoithiness to partake in such a 
work — so Paul felt, you know. 

I expect to return to my church in a few months, but I trem- 
ble, for of late I have had symptoms of my old disease. O how 
I wish you were through and could be associated with me; it 
would be a good school for you, and a great relief to me. Go 
on — perhaps I can, by God's blessing, hold on until you are ready 
to assist me. 

LETTER FROM CHARLES AT WILLIAMS COLLEGE. 

WiLLiAMSTOWN, May 5, 1855. 

Dear Mother : Our vacation commenced a day or 

two ago, and already time begins to hang heavy on my hands — 
somehow or other I feel very little inclination for study or heavy 
reading, and light reading don't suit my taste very well, so I 
hardly know what to do without my regular duties. I suppose 
my lassitude comes in a great measure from the fatigue of the 



REV. CHARLES A. STORK, D. D. 149 

mind after hard labor — for the last term is the hardest in the 
year, I believe, as we have very close examinations at the close 
— four of these examinations I think I can say I came through 
perfectly, the other two only tolerably. When I look back over 
the past winter I feel very much dissatisfied with what I have 
accomplished. I know I could have done more if I had tried, and 
though I am conscious that I have advanced in some degree, I 
feel that my time has not been improved as it should have been ; 
yet I think it is not always good to look back so despondingly, 
for though the past may have been ill-spent, there is still a 
future to work in, and I do not know but that this feeling of 
time misspent urges us on to greater exertions. I know it does 
me, and I feel that by God's help I can and will do more. My 
health has been very good this winter, and I think my throat 
has been affected less than it has been for some winters before. 
I am afraid however, when I think of it, that it will interfere a 
great deal with my labors as a preacher. 

FROM MRS. E. B. STORK TO CHARLES. 

Philadelphia, March 18, 1856. 

Your dear father is better in health and spirits, 

and is entirely absorbed in his church and his Lord. He has the 
largest class of catechumens he has ever had, and many inter- 
esting inquirers among them The Spirit of God 

seems evidently to be W' ith us as a church, and we all feel this 
to be a solemn and important crisis. Our praying people have 
been for months past asking help of God. He has mercifully 
appeared for our encouragement. I wish you were here. I 
monni your absence from our home circle, but all is well ; if we 
are one in Christ, we can never be divided in heart communion. 
I should be comforted if you could find congenial spirits among 
your companions. I think I can fully sympathize with you, and 
I am happy in you as a child of God. I bless the Lord for lead- 
ing you more and more out of yourself, and enabling you to 
give yourself more entirely to His service. It is a glorious 
cause, and your cross-badge will be your crown-circlet forever, 
"^-p of good courage, and He shall strengthen thine heart." 



150 THE STORK FAMILY IN THE LUTHERAN CHURCH. 

FROM MRS. E. B. STORK. 

Phladelphia, Sept. 25, 1856. 

I am pleased that you cherish home recollections, 

and I think you would feel very happy among us now, when we 

have so many sources of internal enjoyment 

Father is crushhigly busy as usual, and almost ready for the 
publisher. His " Home Scenes" will appear at Christmas. Be- 
sides this, lie has undertaken to prepare a juvenile book for the 
holidays, and he also writes for the Home Journal. He is quite 
too much occupied with pen and ink for his own comfort. . . . 
... I want you to be frank about every thing which either 
pleases or pains you. You may ever command my sympathy, 
counsel and prayers. How is it about your sickness at Hart- 
wick? Were you pained by old remembrances, or tried by the 
jeers or reproaches of the heedless and frivolous ? I am glad 
that you feel as you do about your life conflict to he a man, and 
resolutely work out your probation. Every noble heart feels 
an earnest desire to acquit itself honorably, and to the satisfac- 
tion of friends. So be hopeful, my son, and the joy of the Lord 
will be your strength. I must leave a space for father. 

FROM DR. T. STORK (o?i the same sheet ivith the above). 

Your letter was very gratifying to us. We were glad to hear 
you had such a pleasant vacation, and that you were again en- 
tered upon a pleasant session. 

I can appreciate your difficulties in regard to life. It is a seri- 
ous thing to live. I have almost as much difficulty now as in 
the beginning, relative to the questions which now perplex your 
mind. It is perhaps best to feel diffident of ourselves, that we 
may be kept in constant and humble reliance upon God. You 
will thus learn to feel, and say with Paul : " When I am weak, 
then am I strong." "Without me," says Christ, "ye can do 
nothing," But then there is another aspect of the subject : you 
ought not allow too much anxiety about the future to interfere 
with your present duty and enjoyment. "Sufficient unto the 
day is the evil thereof," Try to meet present duty and present 
obligation, and let the future be, as it is, with the Lord. The 



REV. CHAELES A. STORK, D. D. 151 

best way to meet the future is to fulfill the duties of the present ; 
' 'As thy day, so shall thy strength be. ' ' If you are faithful you 
will never be tried above what you are able to bear. Only be 
faithful to Christ, and he will take care of all, and make you a 
blessing. 

"We are getting along very pleasantly. Our home is a sanc- 
tuary of innocent pleasure and holy worship 

I am very busy — two books to come out by Christmas. Do not 
trouble yourself about expense, provided you are reasonably 
economical. There is nothing I do with greater pleasure than 
helping you to your education and preparation for life. Only 
give me the satisfaction thus far granted in your character and 
deportment, and all will be well. 



CHAPTER II. 

DETERMINES TO STUDY FOR THE MINISTRY — JUVENILE INCI- 
DENT—HOME LETTERS— WILLIAMS COLLEGE, 1859 — CHARAC- 
TER AS STUDENT — COLLEGE LITERARY PERFORMANCES — 
HESITATES ABOUT THE MINISTRY — FINAL DECISION — H. M. 
ALDEN's SKETCH — ANDOYER SEMINARY — CAMPING OUT — PRI- 
VATE LETTER — DEPLORES THE CONDITION OF HIS EYES — HIS 
VIEAVS ON RESPONSIBILITY — DEJECTION. 

FROM MRS. E. B. STORK. 
* * * I am glad, dear Charles, that you feel your 
own insufficiency for the momentous work to which you have 
devoted yourself. A minister of Jesus should in an especial 
manner be transferred into the image of his Lord. We are now 
reading the '■'■Mind of Jesus,^^ and I wish I could send you a copy 
of the work : at the conclusion of each meditation is repeated 
this motto: "Arm yourselves likewise with the same mind." 
It is a most edifying book. 

In connection with the declared intention of Charles 
to become a minister may be stated the following little 
incident. When he was about fourteen years of age, his 
father once asked him what profession he would choose : 
he replied, " Father, I do not want to be a minister, for 
all good people die young," At a more mature age, he 
changed his mind. 

FROM MRS. E. B. STORK. 

My Dear Charles : We received your welcome letter, and I seize 
a moment to respond. Your dear father is too busy to write ; 
he has just finished his proof-reading of "Home Scenes" — and 
is employed upon a Christmas book for children, " Childhood of 

(152) 



REV. CHARLES A. STORK, D. B. 153 

Jesus." I think they will be tine ; "Work, work, work," father 
says ; — he dou't get time enough to sleep, and he designs some 
one iceek, to make a reserve to himself and sleep it out to his con- 
tent and satisfaction. How do you think you will relish such a 
life of constant activities ? Your friends will be glad to see you, 
and I hope you will in answer to our prayers be safely conducted 
home, and find it profitable to be among us again. I hope you 
are, with all your wisdom, wise concerning your habits and 
health — habit is second nature. How is it ? Do you obey the 
laws of your outer man, as well as furnish and regulate the in- 
ward spirit? It is a very important duty — purity without and 
purity within — a clean and wholesome body invigorates and 
refines the soul. Use regular exercise in the open air, and re- 
nounce all stimulants, tobacco, coffee, novels and the like. 
"Purify the chambers of imagery," and be a Levite without 
blemish, or imperfection, or rebuke. "He that overcometh 

shall inherit all things." Our church is now very 

promising, and I hope spiritual blessings are in store for her ; we 
have a female prayer- meeting at our house on Saturday after- 
noon, preparatory to the Sabbath, and it is a pleasant hour to 
meet with Christ and His people. Trusting to meet you soon 
in our liome circle, I close. " May the Lord bless you, and keep 
you." 

FROM MRS. E. B. STORK, PHILA., 1856. 

Your dear father is better in health and spirits ; he is wholly 
absorbed in his Church and with his Saviour. He has the largest 
class he has ever had, and many interesting cases, but yet there 
are many who harden themselves under all these privileges. 
The Spirit of God seems evidently with us as a church ; we all 
feel this to be a solemn and important crisis. Our praying 
people have been for months past asking help of God, and He 
has mercifully appeared for our encouragement and reward. I 
wish you were here. I mourn your absent place from our home 
circle, but all is well — if we are one in Christ, we can never be 
divided in heart communion. I should be comforted if you 
could find congenial spirits and heart warmth among your com- 
panions. I think I can fully sympathize with you, and I am 



154 THE STORK FAMILY IN THE LUTHERAN CHURCH. 

happy iu you as a child of God. I bless the Lord for leading 
you more and more out of yourself, and enabling you to give up 
yourself more entirely to His service. It is a glorious cause, and 
your cross-badge will be your crown-circlet forever ! " Be of 
good courage," and He shall strengthen thine heart. 

FROM MRS. E. B. STORK, OCT. 24, 1856. 

* * * * I am glad the time is so near which will 
bring you once again among us. I quite envy you the lovely 
mountain scenery which regales your eyes whichever way you 
look, with the diversified color of the herbage and other forests. 
I am gratified with the aftectionate spirit which breathes through 
your letters, and also with the progress which they evidence in 
spiritual things. Doubtless, much of your depression is con- 
stitutional, but it belongs to all feeling hearts and earnest 
spirits, and it is, as you observe, a wholesome influence, if not 
excessive or morbid, to temper the innate vanity and levity of 
the youthful heart, and to produce a more thoughtful and hum- 
ble character Your dear father is much gratified 

with your conduct ; it is a great privilege to have your parents' 
blessing and approval upon your opening years, and you well 
remember the promises to obedient sons, and you will be en- 
couraged throughout your future life. 

FROM MRS. E. B. STORK AT A LATER DATE. 
"I should like your candid criticism upon my translations 
from Chateaubriand, which have appeared in the Home Journal. 

I am pleased that you cherish home recollections, 

and think you would feel very happy among us now we have so 

many sources of internal enjoyment Your father is 

crushingly busy as usual, and his " Home Scenes" will come out 
this Christmas. Besides this, he has to prepare a juvenile work 
for the holidays, and writing for the Home, Journal. He is quite 
too much occupied with pen and ink for his own comfort. 

FROM THE SAME, DEC. 18, 1857. 

* * * * I am rather disappointed about Mrs. .* 

* A popular writer of those days. 



155 

What a life influence she might exert for her Saviour, over her 
own flesh and blood, and also over the young men around her ; 
how powerful such a woman would be, if her heart carried her 
forward in this direction ! What is fame to a mother's heart 
weeping over a Christless child ? No, no ! better one soul for 
Jesus than a world of empty plaudits. One might be tempted 
to envy the one, but the vain wish is silenced and reconciled by 
the other. It is also encouraging to a modest, retiring spirit, that 
there is not a universality of greatness in all departments, and 
that a limited circle may be the most useful as to the final issue, 
if faithfully filled up, and one is satisfied to work in patient con- 
tinuance in well doing. 

AT WILLIAMS COLLEUE, 1857. 

Here, as at Hartwick — indeed, as at all the schools he 
ever attended — he was a universal favorite and maintained 
a high rank for talent and acquirements. At Williams, 
he was one of the youngest and smallest of the students, 
but he was equal to all and superior to many in the pos- 
session of brains, love of books and of study, and dis- 
tinguished for uprightness of character and soundness of 
moral principles. 

He there found as a student his old Hartwick friend, 
Irving Magee, who had such a decided influence upon 
him in determining his decision in favor of practical 
Christianity ; he also became intimate with Horace Scud- 
der, the popular author; Henry M. Alden, at present 
connected with the literary department of Harper^ s 
Weekly ; and with James A. Garfield, late President of 
the United States. 

Although he had taken an open and decided stand as 
a Christian, he sometimes hesitated as to which profession 
he should pursue for life, and in his youthful inexperi- 



156 THE STORK FAMILY IN THE LUTHERAN CHURCH* 

ence he at one time thought of studying law. But that 
idea was not cherished long, and just before he had 
finally made up his mind for the ministry, his father 
writes: "Jn regard to your studying for the ministry, 
you know my sentiments ; you know it would afford me 
the greatest satisfaction, and that no earthly honors in 
any sphere of human action would be as grateful to me 
as to see you a respectable and useful minister of Christ. 
But then you must be influenced not by any desire simply 
to gratify me." 

His father was gratified beyond expression at the final 
decision of his son, and already began to lay plans for 
their mutual work in the church field ; and the delighted 
father lived to see his ardent hopes realized in having 
his gifted and highly educated son as his colleague and 
assistant in the church. 

We have a picture of his college character presented 
by a fellow-student, Mr. Henry M. Alden, of Harper'' 8 
WeeMy^ which was furnished as an introductory article 
to the " Selections" from the waitings of Dr. C. A. Stork 
by his brother, Theophilus B. Stork, Esq. Mr. Alden 
and Charles were intimate friends, and among many 
other touching and fraternal observations, while speak- 
ing of his modesty and unostentatious disposition, he says: 

" He probably never did anything in his whole life with 
the purpose of drawing attention to himself. He entered 
into no competition with his fellows. With unusual power 
of expression, both as a writer and as a speaker, he 
showed no desire for such expression. He had no out- 
ward eccentricity, and even his indifference to passing 



REV. CHARLES A. STORK, D. D. 157 

affairs was negative rather than positive, and escaped 
observation. He was reticent without shyness ; and what- 
ever may have been his inner life, he gave no outward 
sign of it. 

" In all that makes up the visible exterior of a man, 
he was the same from the first to the last observation I 
had of him. When he entered college, he had in all 
these respects reached maturity, although he Avas almost 
the youngest of his class. . . . Though not inviting 
notice, there were some peculiarities in his personal ap- 
pearance that would arrest the attention of even a casual 
observer. His features — as large as those we notice in 
the portraits of Beethoven — clearly showed his Teutonic 
paternity; while his mobile mouth, his small hands — as 
delicate as a woman's — and the sensitiveness that inter- 
penetrated his German phlegm, as clearly showed that his 
mother was of the finer southern type. His mood was 
that of habitual thoughtfulness, usually contemplative, 
but under excitement, lambent with fire and humor. 

"His intellectual habits and tastes were, even at this 
early period, fully formed. He had read all the great 
books of our literature, and his literary taste was almost 
an instinct. He especially appreciated authors in whom 
humor was a prominent characteristic : but his taste was 
catholic, and he delighted in the keen humor of Thackeray 
as well as the broad caricature of Dickens. In history 
he read those works which interpreted the great drama 
of human progress, caring little for those which contained 
annals only. The early English poets were as familiar 
to him as the later. 
8 



158 THE STORK FAMILY IN THE LUTHERAN CHURCH. 

"I approach with some difficulty the period of our 
nearer acquaintance. The memory of such a friendship 
is too sacred for expression, except in the lofty strains of 
a new 'In Memoriam.' It was the ideal friendship of my 
life, and its preciousness to me may be understood from 
the fact that at that time I had no other intimate friend. 
It was the characteristic of his generous nature that he 
sought to draw me out of the solitude in Avhich I had 
immured myself. He had few intimate personal friends. 
Among them were James A. Garfield, of the class of ^56, 
and Horace E. Scudder, of the class of '57. Garfield's 
graduation was near at hand. I remember his last even- 
ing at Williams, when a number of us joined hands with 
him on the college green and sang ' Auld Lang Syne.' 
Scudder was especially congenial to Stork, not only be- 
cause of their intellectual sympathy, but because each of 
them had a pure, sweet and wholesome nature — the 
natural basis of a manly and lasting friendship. 

'' But one year of college life remained to Stork and 
myself, and we embraced every opportunity, such as 
friends always seek for intercourse, much of our time 
being spent in reading together our favorite authors. 
Of modern writers the poet Tennyson made the strong- 
est impression on our minds. His thought — moulded 
after the antique, mediceval, or modern type — was at once 
poetic and interpretative. His wonderful rhythm and 
classic perfection of form gave aesthetic satisfaction, and 
we found in his poems sympathy with currents of modern 
thought into which we were drifting — especially that of 
" honest doubt." The studies of the senior year were 



REV. CHARLES A. STORK, D. D. 159 

largely of a speculative character, and, since these were 
pursued under the guidance of Dr. Mark Hopkins, it is 
needless to add that they developed independent thinking. 
But our talk was not wholly of books and metaphysics, 
and it is worthy of note here that Stork loved to talk 
about his home, and about the members of his family, 
always in terms of deepest aifection. While then, and 
always, I was impressed by his sincerity, fidelity and 
earnestness, I could not but notice his disposition to in- 
dulge in playful humor. His dignity was natural, with- 
out any stiffness or self-consciousness. He was always 
companionable, and no classmate was ever more popular 
than he was. 

" Among his writings at this time, I particularly remem- 
ber an essay on Rhythm, which was published in the 
Williams Quarterly^ and which displayed not only his 
extensive reading in English poetry, but also a critical 
ability of the highest order, because it was interpretative 
and sympathetic, as well as keen in analysis. But as a 
promise of his literary future, a brief essay entitled 
" Winter," written I believe while he was preparing for 
college at Hartwick Seminary, made a stronger and more 
lasting impression upon my mind. His winter landscape 
was associated with Shakespeare's King Lear. Nature 
was more to him than books, but its charms were, in his 
mind, inseparably connected with the creations of the 
master poets. He was himself a poet, having much of 
the virility and dramatic power that distinguish the 
works of Robert Browning ; but he modestly regarded 
what he did in this field as studies made for his own sat- 



160 THE STORK FAMILY IN THE LUTHERAN CHURCH. 

isfaction rather than as having any claim to public recog- 
nition. 

" In his entire college career I can recall but a sin- 
gle instance of any public expression on his part. It was 
at a meeting of the faculty, students and friends of the 
college, in recognition of some important benefaction, 
and he had been chosen as a speaker to represent his 
class. He had written nothing for recitation ; but, when 
he came to speak, it was evident that he had let his sub- 
ject take full possession of his mind, and his address was 
natural in manner, thoughtful, eloquent and impressive. 

AT ANDOVER. 

" A few months after graduation we entered the Theo- 
logical Seminary at Andover. He had reached the 
period when youth forecasts for itself a lofty career. It 
is not necessary here to indicate the plans. we formed. 
Was there ever youthful aspiration that did not grandly 
shape the dream of the future — a dream never to be re- 
alized ? The student lives in a world of his own — a world 
in which nothing seems impossible. He will probably 
do little of all that he then so vastly determines. He 
soon enters another world, in which duty takes the place 
of aspiration ; and, if he follows this new guide, he finds 
later on that the work really undertaken and accomplished 
is, after all, greater than his early dream. Yet I am sure 
that neither of us ever afterwards regretted the studies in 
Greek literature, in the history of philosophy and the 
philosophy of history, that occupied us at the Seminary. 

" If in connection with these studies, the spirit and ac- 



REV. CHARLES A. STORK, D. D. IBl 

tive exercise of doubt were developed, they were natu- 
rally incident to the intellectual period upon which we 
had entered. All discords were afterward resolved. 
Until the component parts of the mind's object-glass 
are fitly joined together, there must be mental aberration. 
But those who read the " Selections" from his writings 
will find there no indication of such aberration. It will be 
clear to the reader, that whatever mental struggles he 
may have passed through, after the conflict his Saviour 
remained to him the one great real presence of his life." 
His brother, in the brief sketch of Charles' life pre- 
fixed to the " Selections," gives the following incident 
as illustrating a strongly characteristic trait, his love and 
sensibility to natural beauty. It seems that during one 
of his vacations he tried the boyish adventure of camping 
out in the woods ; but being, as he himself confesses, no 
great woodsman, he met with indifferent success. In a 
letter to his father, he says that he was wet to the skin 
with rain, he knew not how to cook the fish he had caught, 
and was very glad to return to civilization, scorched by 
fire, with bruised legs and blistered hands : " There is one 
lesson," he adds, "I learned, however, that was worth it 
all, and that is the grandeur and solemnity of solitude in 
the nights. I used to lie and listen to the lapping of the 
waters on the shores of the lakes, and the moaning of the 
wind in the forest, and look at the stars shining so silently 
and steadily, until I was really oppressed with the solem- 
nity of the solitary night; . . . there are many things 
a man may learn from nature, if he will ; . . . I get 
sometimes an overpowering sense of the careful working 



162 THE STOKK FAMILY IN THE LUTHERAN CHURCH. 



of God through all these vast scenes of nature. It seems 
like standing in His very presence, to watch the changes 
and all the movements of a strong summer day, for it sets 
before us His immediate workings for us and to us." 

Andover, August, 1858. 

You speak of my early experience, mother, and 

ask for it ; but I cannot remember my life so early as tlie age of 
four. My earliest connected recollections of life are of my 
school days in Winchester ; before that I can recall only snatches 
and glimpses of days and weeks with no connection. But of my 
life in Winchester I can say, that it was neither happy in the 
spending nor profitable in the results, I missed very much the 
kindness and care of a mother, and all the genial influences of 
a home. I was thrown among boys of my own age when I was 
too young to learn anything from any life with them. When I 
needed all the restraining influences of parents, I was left too 
much to my own foolish guidance ; and when I was too inexperi- 
enced to form any purpose of my own, I had none to direct me. 
.... To compensate for all these losses and injurious influences, 
all that I can now reckon up is a fine grounding in the rudiments 
of Latin. I cannot in a letter, mother, say all that I might about 
the comparative advantages of an academic or a home education 
in early life. The whole question, too, depends so much upon 
fortuitous circumstances that no direct answer can be given — 
such as the character of the person, the surroundings that he 
would have in his home life, etc. 

But I can see no reason myself why a child should leave a 
home that is good, for a school, earlier than the age of eighteen. 
Before that age he will not liave known nature enough to profit 
by a life among men, which, as I see the college life, is after all 
the greatest, advantage it offers. Before that age he can learn all 
that is necessary at home, and before that age he should be sur- 
rounded with all the kindly and genial influences of home. But 
I think a college course indispensable to the educated man. He 
must at some time spend much time in study and thought alone ; 
he must learn what his fellow-men are ; he must live with them, 



REV. CHARLES A. STORK, D. D. 163 

dependent upon himself alone for bis position and influence 
among them ; and I know no better place for this than the col- 
lege, with all its defects of incomplete courses of study and gath- 
ering of many bad men. But this is all rather premature for 
little Theo. : he has many years of happy childhood, that may be 
more to him in all his life than any college course. Let his life 
be pure and happy now, and he will not mar it much when he 
comes to be a man. And after all it comes to this — what will the 
person do himself? Will he be pure, and live a child of God, 
trusting in God as his Father, or will he not ? And the respon- 
sibility of the issue of his life passes from us to himself. It 
often seems sad, even bitter, that the shaping of the life of some 
dear one rests not in our hands ; but the responsibility of our 

own life is enough for each one of us and there, in 

all the solemnity of life, each man for himself shaping a life 
that will either be a life with God, that is joy and peace to the 
man himself and a rich blessing to men, or a life apart from 
God, altogether vain and worthless, that brings to men the 
curse of vanity and sin, and is to him that lives it in the end 

only shame and unavailing remorse 

Your affectionate son, Charles Stork. 

Andover Seminary, September 7, 1858. 
Dear Father ,- * * * My vacation too is almost spent ; 
and I am heartily glad of it. You have no idea, father, how 
lonely, how tedious it has been for the last five weeks. All the 
walks about the town for three or four miles I have gone over 
again and again, till I became sick of the sight of the familiar ob- 
jects. I tried camping out in the woods on the shores of a large 
pond — but both times I got wet through with rain, had to sleep 
in wet clothes and live on pork and crackers and the fish we 
caught, which after we caught we did not know how to cook. 
On this same expedition I bruised my legs and blistered my 
hands, and dried and blackened myself over the fire and in the 
sun till I was not fit to be seen. I think I shall not forego the 
comforts of civilized life very soon again for adventures in the 
woods. We just brought home this morning the last of our 
camp furniture, consisting of two blankets, a frying-pan, axe 



164 THE STORK FAMILY IN THE LUTHERAN CHURCH. 

and hoe, and a sheet of canvass that served as the roof of our 
hut. 

There is one tiling I learned, however, that was worth it all, 
and that is the grandeur and solemnity of solitude in the night. 
I used to lie and listen to the lapping of the waters on the shores 
of the lake, and the moaning of the winds in the forest, and 
look at the stars shining so silently and steadily, till I was really 
oppressed with the solemnity of the solitary night. Ah ! father, 
there are many things a man may learn from nature if he will — 
if he will be ready to see how God works in His wondrous ways. 
I get sometimes an overpowering sense of the careful and con- 
tinued working of God through all these scenes of nature. It 
seems like standing in His vciy presence to watch the changes 
and all the movement of a full and strong summer day ; for it 
sets before us His immediate workings for us and to us, appeal- 
ing to us with all the perfection and glory of His works to be 
like Him in our life. 

But, after all, one must have some human life and human 
sympathy, and plenty of it too. Byron and Moore had very 
narrow conceptions of the worth and power of human sympathy 
— when they talked about living alone with some one person — 
the family, not the man and wife alone — the community, the 
people. We must work for and with the many, and for my 
part I want to live with them too as much as I can. So here is 
another reason for being tired of vacation. I don't know any- 
body here, and I am almost alone ; but when the students come 
back, and when I can get at my books again, I shall be satisfied 
— for my books are to me what men often fail to be, friends 
who have lived fine lives and with whom I have a common 
sympathy. You will know by this what books I am reading — 
the books of men that have lived fine lives either of thought or 
action. Homer and Plato I read last summer. I hope to do a 
great deal this winter ; though it may be like all my years have 
been — at the opening full of rich promise and strong hope of 
good to myself, and through the purification and strengthening 
of myself, to men — and at the closing sad with the remembrance 
of little done and much lost. 



EEV. CHARLES A. STORK, D. D. 165 

The following letter is without date or place, but evi- 
dently written in New York to a special friend in An- 
dover : 

I suppose you think it a small thing to say ' ' Good morning, ' ' 
but I know persons whose manner (and manner is the truest 
speech) in even that little thing was full of fine meaning, "Good 
morning" from them was a charming poem, or a snatch of wel- 
come song ; it meant : "Here we come to a new day of glorious 
life : we will live like men to-day, and sympathize in all that 
comes to us." 

Want some news about myself? Would you like to know 
what time I get up ? What I have for breakfast ? How many 
miles I walk in a day ? That's what most biographies are made 
of; the pious ones tell how many times the subject attended 
prayer-meeting, and what he said there. Adventures? We 
don't have any adventures in this part of the world except vul- 
gar ones : for instance, the other day as I was crossing a street 
through a great crowd of people and carriages, a man made a 
snatch at my watch ; fortunately the guard was strung so that 
I caught his arm before he broke it. I had some notion of 
handing him over to the police, but on second thought, as he 
was better dressed and infinitely more respectable in appearance 
than I, I was afraid tlie police might take me for the ofl:ender, 
so I let him go. 

I am making the best of the city ; but it is a horrid place. I 
would give all New York, its sights, luxuries, stores and gal- 
leries, for a quiet lane in And over, or an evening on the back 
road to the Seminary, looking at the sunset. 

A LETTER FROM CHARLES TO HIS FATHER. 

Andover, Oct. 23, 1858. 
Dear Father : I am sorry to say that my eyes are worse. Thtjy 
seem to vacillate between health and disease. I have to wiite 
without looking at the paper, so you must make all allowance 
for straggling of lines, running together of words, and also for 
brevity. My health otherwise is in fine condition. I am strong 
8* 



166 THE STORK FAMILY IN THE LUTHERAN CHURCH. 

and vigorous ; and body and mind, in spite of my eyes, do a 
great deal of work. I am afraid I shall have to abandon all 
hope of using my eyes very much — all my cherished hopes of 
being a Christian scholar, as well as minister, are dying in me 
by inches. It is very liard to think it must be so, but, perhaps, 
it is for the better. I intend to preach without notes. I fear it 
will be hard work, but I must learn to do it. I shall have to 
hire some one to read to me what is absolutely necessary. The 
rest of my work I must do by mere dint of thinking and original 
creation. I do not despair at all of final success. This is the 
worst view of the case. I may recover my eyes, but I do not set 
my hopes on them. You see I face the evil as cheerfully as I 
can ; but my courage is not always so good, I often despond 
and think I must be useless and worthless in the world. 

It was about this time that he wrote the following 
letter, and it sounds strangely to hear a young man of 
twenty-one speak in this style of the weight of human 
responsibility ; but he was a mature man long before many 
others older in years than he was, and of a sensibility the 
most delicate and refined. But, no doubt, his tendency to 
melancholy brought out these expressions, if they were 
not themselves that melancholy : 

February 21, 1859. 
But you have no idea how this longing for freedom from respon- 
sibility grows upon me. It tortures me beyond measure. Some- 
times I feel as if I could be anything — a slave, a day laborer — 
to be rid of this ever-present sense of responsibility to men. My 
knowledge, my studies, all my long years of thought, only make 
my obligations the wider and the deeper ; and yet the more I see 
of what is to be done, and what I can do, the more do I shrink 
from the work. I suppose I must show it in my manner. S — 
once said to me, " Stork, you will excuse my impertinence, but 
really, with all your learning and ability, I don't believe you 
will ever be anything in the world." I was, I confess, some- 



KEY. CHARLES A. STORK, D. D. 167 

what startled by this, for it seemed to confirm what I had already 
suspected in myself. But I don't think he was altogether right. 
Pleasant, indeed, would it be to live in a golden ease, and hard 
indeed does life look to me ; and yet I shall work and never fear. 
This is weakness, you say. Yes, God knows I am weak enough, 
though not where men thiuk me so ; I am not weak to yield to 
temptation, but I am weak to shrink from the labor, even while 
I take it for my portion, i am so weak that I am miserable half 
the time from the struggle it costs me to hold to my purpose. 
I never would make a triumphant martyr ; if I went to the stake 
it would be with bowed head and a desponding spirit ; but I 
should go nevertheless. 



CHAPTER III. 

AT NEWBERRY, S. C. — SORE EYES — GOES TO BERLIN FOR TREAT- 
MENT — ST. JAMES' MISSION IN PHILADELPHIA — ASSISTANT TO 
HIS FATHER IN BALTIMORE — MODE OF PREACHING — LEARNS 
TO EXTEMPORIZE — CALL TO ST. MARK'S — LETTER FROM THE 
COUNCIL — ACCEPTS AND HIS REPLY — HIS MARRIAGE — CALL TO 
PENNSYLVANIA COLLEGE AND SEMINARY — DECLINES DE- 
SCRIPTIVE LETTER. 

TO NEWBERRY, S. C, 1859. 

CHARLES' father, as we have already seen, was of- 
fered the Presidency of a college recently established 
in Newberry, S. C, by our Synod of that State, which he 
accepted. In February, 1859, they arrived at that place, 
in company with Dr. Brown, the professor of theology. 
Charles was professor of Greek, and few young men of 
his age in the country were better fitted for that position. 
He had been a hard student of languages for years, and 
made himself familiar with them. 

The civil war compelled the whole of the Northern 
professors to abandon their educational work at Newberry 
in less than a year, and they returned home. The eyes 
of Charles had been injured by hard study, and he was 
induced to go to Berlin to avail himself of the skill of the 
celebrated oculist. Dr. von Graefe. After six months' 
treatment, Charles was dismissed as cured, upon which he 
came back to the United States. Soon after his return 

(168) 



169 

he took charge for several months of St. James' Lutheran 
Mission in Philadelphia. 

The following two letters describe his experience in 
Europe : 

Hamburg, March 5tli, 1861. 

My Dear R — ; Well, I have made another journey and had 
another fit of sea sickness ; and here I am, sitting in my room in 
the 3d etage (so they call the 3d story of a German hotel), with 
a German waiter talking to my traveling companion at a terrible 
rate. We were six hours crossing England, from Liverpool to 
Hull, through a most beautiful varied country — first was the 
low, fiat country, looking like a garden, dotted with beautiful 
country seats, old farm-houses, and beautiful English villages ; 
then comes the rough, hill country of Yorkshire (by the way, 
I i^assed within six miles of Haworth, the home of Charlotte 
Bronte). These wild hills and barren moors, you know, are the 
scene of her Shirley and her sister's Midfell Hall and Wuther- 
ing Heights : as we rushed through the passes and along the sides 
of the hills, I could almost fancy I saw Markham riding up to Mrs. 
Graham's house. You can imagine, how like a fairy dream 
everything seemed to me — the bleak moors with the quaint old 
English farm-houses on their borders, the jagged cliff's, the bleak 
uplands, the dark valleys, with the torrents rushing through 
them. I saw only one old castle, and that was a grand pile. I 
think that six hours' ride was the shortest, most crowded with 
intense feeling, I ever had. I didn't know I could be so affected 
— all it wanted for perfect happiness was you by my side to see 
with me and feel with me ; but I associated you with everything 
I saw — each beautiful thing, every scene, suggested something to 
tell you ; and tell you by word of mouth I must, for writing it is 
out of the question — one sees too much even to tell. Do you know 
I couldn't get Maggie on the Mill and the Floss out of my mind, 
all the time, especially after I had seen an old mill that would 
have answered exactly for Dorlcote Mill. By the way, I have 
heard some of the life of Miss Evans (George Eliot), which throws 
a new light, and one full of interest, on the subject we discussed 



170 THE STORK FAMILY IN THE LUTHERAN CHURCH, 

so warmly. We got to Hull after dark and went to a veritable 
old English inn, where the landlady came out to the door 
to welcome us in, where we took supper in the travel- 
ers' room and breakfast in the commercial room, where we 
slept in a curtained bed and had to pay a sixpence to the 
Boots, where I went into the tap-room and called for a long 
pipe, such as Tony Weller used to smoke, and a tankard of ale 
such as Sam Weller used to drink, all to serve as an illustration 
with my next reading of Dickens with you. Hull is an old 
rambling town, running over with oranges as cheap as can be, 
and fish. Everything is old and dingy, and the streets are more 
crooked and narrow than those of Boston. I spent an hour in 
the old church, the largest but one in Great Britain, and over 
five hundred years old ; it is full of curious and beautiful things, 
to say nothing of the fine Gothic architecture. It was the first 
genuine old Gothic church building I had ever seen, and yet 
somehow it seemed very familiar. I knew where everything 
was to be found, and recognized many things as old familiar 
friends. The choir were chanting when I went in, and the effect 
of the music (very fine music by the way), sounding through the 
old aisles, while the sun streamed through the great painted 
window in the east on to the memorial tablets with which the 
church is paved, was very strange. This realization of all I 
have thought and dreamt of, England and her memorial archi- 
tecture, is a continual wonder to me — it seems a dream and no 
real thing. The church is about as large as halt dozen of the 
Old South, w ith a vast vaulted roof of stone supported on colon- 
nades of the slender groui^s of Gothic columns, such as you see 
in pictures of so many old churches. The floor is paved and the 
walls are completely covered with memorial tablets, some of 
the quaintest sort. In niches are stone effigies of life size, 
stretched at length with hands folded on their breasts. You 
cannot imagine what a sense of peaceful rest one breathes in 
from these calm stone statues that have lain 50 long with hands 
clasped in rest from all toil. I thought I would tell you of 
Hamburg while in the place, but I find I must wait till I get to 
Berlin. 



REV. CHARLES A. STORK, D. D. 171 

Berlin, March 6tb, 1861. 
Another German inn, with its discomforts, and not least the in- 
ability of the servants to talk anything but German (I have just 
succeeded by great exertion in getting a pen) . Well, it's five 
o'clock in the afternoon (eleven in the morning with you), and 
I have trotted around the city till I am tired ; but to begni 
where I left off — I was most gloriously sea-sick again between 
Hull and Hamburg ; but the sight of land cures that. Ham- 
burg is a dirty, crooked town, half old and half new. Some 
of the streets look like American streets, and some are so 
old that they have no sidewalks, only the street shelving 
from both sides to the gutter in the middle, and narrow at 
that, with each story reaching farther out than the one below 
it, till the tops of the houses nearly touch. But I am tired of 
writing descriptions. I must write of myself. I can tell you all 
when I get back, and I know you want to hear more of myself. 
I have seen Dr. Graefe, and he has put me into his infirmary, 
a large building that looks very much like a poor-house, where 
he keeps all his foreign patieuts. He visits us once a day. He 
has people here from every part of the world, and he effects the 
most wonderful cures — he has just cured a man from America 
who came to him perfectly blind. He is a tall, noble-looking 
man, of about thirty-three, nervous and restless ; he rushes into 
my room, looks at my eyes a minute, asks me one or two ques- 
tions, and then bolts out again. He never says much ; he seems 
to gather all he wants to know of my case by looking at my 
eyes. His first prescription was a pair of spectacles. He hasn't 
told me yet what he thinks of my case, and all his patients tell 
me that he always discourages one at first ; if there is the slight- 
est chance that he cannot help you, he says he is afraid he can 
do nothing ; but one thing is certain, acknowledged by all the 
oculists of England, Germany and France, that if Graefe can- 
not cure you, no one in this world can. He is one of the distin- 
guished men of Berlin, his picture is in every paint-shop win- 
dow, and everybody in the city knows him and talks about him. 
He has about one hundred patients in his infirmary ; he has fifty 
students attending his clinical lecture ; he operates every day 



172 THE STORK FAMILY IN THE LUTHERAN CHURCH. 

on about thirty people, and when I called on him to consult him 
his room was crowded. He speaks broken English in the most 
comical manner. Sometimes when he comes in, he says good- 
by instead of good morning ; he tells me to be very precocious — 
meaning very cautious — and a hundred other things of the same 
sort. I told him about the hairs, but he says that's not the 
trouble. He makes me read with my spectacles an hour and a 

half a day, but he rather objects to my writing 

I am home-sick — it's a new thing for me, but so it is. When I 
get out of Graefe's hands I shall come home. Travelling is all 
very well, but if I have my books and friends at home, I can let 
slip Rome and Athens. There are finer things in this world 
than cathedrals and picture galleries, than the Rhine and Swit- 
zerland, and one's own home is better than all the rest of the 
earth. I want to see you very much. 

Ever yours, Charlie. 

Berlin, March 11, 1861. 

My Dear B . I wish you could see me in my little room in 

this eye-infirmary. It is a comfortable place, well furnished 
after the German fashion, but very dreary withal. Oh, I do get 
so terribly home-sick, and sick of myself and my eyes. Every- 
body I see have their eyes bandaged or sore ; nothing is talked 
of but eyes, and in short, one would think the whole end of 
being was to cure one's eyes. They keep us on short allowance 
of food ; for breakfast, absolutely nothing but two pieces of 
bread without butter and a cup of coffee ; for supper, the same ; 
and dinner, meat and potatoes, dessert, pastry, puddings, cake, 
pickles, preserves, are things unknown. I don't care for that, 
however. But the German beds — I don't know how they man- 
age to live in the summer with them — the whole of the bed- 
clothes consists of two large feather beds put into cases like 
two immense pillows, and between those you are expected to 
sleep — not a sheet nor blanket — isn't that pleasant? 

The Doctor won't tell me anything about my case — he never 
tells any one, and I am sure I can't tell yet myself. I read with 
spectacles an hour or two a day, take pills, use ointment, salt- 
water baths, etc., etc. They are very easy about regimen ; I can 



REV. CHARLES A. STORK, D. D. 173 

smoke, go to the opera, sit in the most brilliant light, and do 
what else I please. 

March 13. 
I went last night to hear Beethoven's "Fidelio ;" the orches- 
tra, though small for Germany (60 in number), was perfect — it is 
considered so even here. You know Beethoven's operas are all 
considered failures. Well, I understand now why as operas 
they certainly are very poor. The dramatic interest of "Fi- 
delio" is very meagre. There is so little of passion and intensity 
in the movement that actually they have to drop the music 
sometimes and talk to keep up the interest. Beethoven could 
not write music for lovers to bill and coo in, and tyrants to 
bluster, and dying men to make pathetic speeches through — so 
all that is done by mere talk. But the music — I wish I could 
give you some idea of it. The overture was full of grand and 
strong passages that seemed to carry me as on the wings of the 
wind — it is unlike and yet very like Beethoven. So weird and 
wild was the whole that it seemed unfamiliar. The opera itself 
is made up of half a dozen grand connected pieces and four or 
five airs, the sweetest, most exquisite that one can conceive — you 
know what Beethoven can do in that way — they seemed almost 
to steal the very soul from one. I could almost fancy one might 
die of such music, as some faint from the exquisite fragrance of 
the tuberose. But what is the use of trying to describe it ? I 
can only say that the effect of the whole opera on me was such 
that I went home completely exhausted ; it seemed to take all my 
nervous energy from me, to listen to such music. They played 
the overture in "Leonore," another of Beethoven's operas, after 
the " Fidelio," but I was too tired to do it justice in the hearing ; 
it was wonderful, bewildering, stormy, and yet full of sweetness 
— Beethoven all over — that's all I can say of it. I have heard 
"i\[artha," too, and at the cathedral on Sunday, Mendelssohn's 
Psalms. You see, I am living on music, and we can't do any- 
thing else in Berlin. There is a concert every afternoon of 
the very finest classical music, rendered by the best orchestra 
in the city, admission six cents. The operas of Mozart, Beeth- 
oven, Flotow", and Mendelssohn every evening, admission 



174 THE STORK FAMILY IN THE LUTHERAN CHURCH. 

twenty cents. Positively the temptation is too great, one can- 
not resist it ; but all the time I keep thinking how much better 
it would be if you could only hear it with me. It seems almost 
wrong, sometimes, to be enjoying so much away from you. 
Well, darling, I shall come back as soon as the Doctor cures my 
eyes. I don't care for Europe. I can travel in my library, by 
my own thoughts, to my heart's content, and I will gladly give 
all the operas and concerts of Germany to be back in the old 
familiar room, listening to you while you render our favorite 
music. 

Music is very cheap here. I can buy all Beethoven's sonatas 
for two dollars and a half, all of Mozart's for a dollar, and they 
throw in as a premium a portrait of each. I got a beautiful 
Parian bust of Beethoven the other day for you. I keep it on 
the table before me, and the more I see it the better I like it. 
It is a noble head. 

March 22. 

A long stop, but I must write when I can. The Doctor 
changes my spectacles every once in a while, and then I have to 
wait two or three days for the new ones to be made. How are 
my eyes? Well, I don't know. I am reading three or four 

hours a day, with as little pain as I ever had under Dr. D 

when I read not a bit. Dr. von Graefe tells me I must read till 
the pain is so great that I cannot read any longer. And I have 
not got to that point yet. He is going to set me reading by 
candle-light to-morrow evening, half an hour an evening. I am 
almost afraid to try it, but he says I must, and there is no dis- 
puting with Mm — one must do as he says or leave. 

I have the oddest pair of spectacles now, they are called pris- 
matico-convex glasses. The glass is on one edge thicker than a 
half dollar and slants off to the opposite side to the thickness of 
a five- cent piece. They are so big and heavy that they have made 
the bridge of my nose sore with carrying them. The Doctor 
has tried to explain their use, but as his English is poor and my 
German worse, I can make nothiug out of it. Graefe tells me 
that the eye itself and the nerve are perfectly good, but the 
muscles by which the eyes are held fixed and moved to and fro 



REV. CHARLES A. STORK, D. D. 175 

in reading, have been strained by excessive use. He intends to 
restore their tone by the use of these peculiar spectacles. He 
says he shall dismiss me when 1 can read eight hours a day. 
When that will be, if ever, I don't know. He won't tell me, 
nor promise me anything. He is an odd man with his patients ; 
he always discourages them as much as he can. You can 
have no idea how much he is beloved. The children hang 
round him like a father, as he is as gentle with them as a 
woman. The poor fellow is worked to death. Just think of 
his visiting four hundred patients every day. He came into my 
room a few minutes ago looking all fagged, and he told me he 
could not attend to me to-day, that he was too tired. He sees 
me every day for a minute, and examines my eyes with the 
microscope minutely every five days. 

TO BALTIMORE, 1861. 

His father had been called to be pastor of the new 
congregation styled St. Mark's in Baltimore, of which 
a full history has been given in his biography. At his 
desire, Charles was called to be his father's assistant. 
Not being the responsible pastor of the church, he did 
not at first mingle freely with the members, and only 
discharged such pastoral duties as the chief pastor re- 
quired from him. He was backward and retiring, and 
did not consider it his duty to seek the acquaintance of 
the people, and hence for several years he was not per- 
sonally known to many of the people ; but he was uni- 
versally admired as a young man of fine talents, extensive 
acquirements, and of brilliant promise. He did not asso- 
ciate intimately with any of the Baltimore clergy at that 
early day; but subsequently, when he became full pastor, 
his whole manner changed, and several ministers of other 
churches and he became intimate friends. They were 



176 THE STORK FAMILY IN THE LUTHERAN CHURCH. 

New Englanders, with whom he seemed to have more 
sympathy than with others. 

At that time, he was a close reader of his sermons. 
He was a fair reader, still much of their force was 
weakened by his style of delivery. He lacked in fervor, 
and had imbibed the New England ideas of preaching, 
which did not suit his congregation in Baltimore ; and yet 
a New Englander who heard him one Sunday morning, 
and the pulpit of the church of which he was a member 
being vacant at the time, remarked to a friend after 
church, " That is positively the kind of man we need in 
our church ! and I'll inquire whether he cannot be got !" 
But it was not only the mode of young Stork's delivery 
that roused the admiration of this stranger, but it was the 
mature thought, the exquisite taste, the sound argument 
and striking illustrations of the young preacher. 

The people endured the reading of his sermons, for his 
father had practised it in the same pulpit several years 
before him, but the preacher himself began to ask whether 
after all he should not lay aside his manuscript and talk 
instead of read to the people. He had never practised 
extemporaneous speaking, and he said it was difficult to 
learn. He was encouraged to persevere, and by con- 
tinuous effort lie in less than a year acquired a faculty of 
uttering unwritten thoughts in the choicest and most 
forcible language. He never hesitated for a word and 
never repeated one for want of another, but words flowed 
smoothly and fluently from his eloquent lips. All this 
was owing to his unsurpassed mental vigor, his indomi- 
table perseverance, and the broad extent of his knowledge. 



UEV. CHARLES A. STORK, D. D. 17*7 

And yet with this wonderful facility of utterance, he some- 
times would not risk the exercise of it, but preferred to 
read a sermon, Avhich thus lost much of its power. I 
remember once at a Synodical meeting he closely read a 
sermon before a plain country congregation, when I 
knew he might have thrilled his hearers with his ofF-hand 
impressive style of speech, and presented the truth with 
much more eflfect. 

CALL TO ST. mark's. 

Letter of the Council of St. Mark's to C. A. Stork : 

Baltimore, June 21, 1865. 

Dear Sir : It gives me pleasure to inform you that at a meet- 
ing of the cliurch council of St. Mark's, it was unanimously 
resolved to extend to you a call to tlie pastorship, wliicli will 
become vacant on the 1st of July next. This action is based 
upon an election held on the 14th and IGth instant, when you 
were the unanimous choice for that position of all those who 
voted. 

The constitution of the church requires that two-thirds of all 
the electors shall be necessary to elect a pastor, but I congratu- 
late you upon the fact that more than three-fourths of the elec- 
tors have thus expressed a desire that you should succeed to 
the office of pastor, and of those who have not voted — a number 
of whom are out of the city — it is not known that a single mem- 
ber is opposed to your succeeding to that position. 

Such unanimity of feeling among the members of the church 
upon such an important question, leads us to believe that under 
the blessing of God, and the earnest prayers of the congregation, 
your ministry among us, in the event of your acceptance of the 
call, will be eminently successful. 

The history of the church is well known to you ; at our first 
election for pastor in the fall of 1860, the same unanimity of 
feeling existed, and the church has been most signally blessed of 
God, both in its spiritual and its temporal affairs, under the 



178 THE STORK FAMILY IN THE LUTHERAN CHURCH. 

ministry of him who has so endeared himself in tlie hearts, and 
whose memory will be cherished by the members of St. Mark's, 
but who is now about to leave us ; and this, too, was commenced 
at a time when all around was dark and gloomy by reason of 
the rebellion which was about bursting upon our land, and 
when many churches of our city were very much crippled in 
their operations thereby. 

But now that God has granted victory to our country, and the 
glad tidings of peace are again heard in the land, may we not 
reasonably hope that as you have so acceptably filled the office 
of assistant pastor for the past three years, a favoring Provi- 
dence will grant that under your ministry the future history of 
the church will be as glorious as in the past? 

This call was accepted on June 23, 1865, in the fol- 
lowing letter : 

Baltimore, June 23. 

Your communication informing me of the action of the congre- 
tional meeting of St. Mark's, resulting in my election, and 
extending to me a call to the pastorship now vacant, has been 
received. 

It gives me sincere pleasure to resj^ond to a call made with 
such unanimity of feehng and choice on the j)art of the congre- 
gation as intimated in your letter. Our relations hitherto have 
been of the most pleasant and, I trust, not unprofitable character. 
In signifying my acceptance of the call to the pastorship of St. 
Mark's, I can only express my hope that the same harmony 
and mutual love, that under the blessing of God have charac- 
terized our past intercourse, may continue in the new relation 
of pastor and people that we shall now assume. 

I propose to enter upon my duties on the first of July. Pray- 
ing that the blessing of God and the grace of Christ may cheer 
and sustain us in the work that is before us as a churdi, and 
that we may faithfully occupy our place in the vineyard of our 
common Lord, with many thanks for your kind consideration 
of myself, 

I remain yours in Christ, C. A. Stork. 



REV. CHARLES A. STORK, D. D. 179 

He was now master of the church himself, and for 
a number of years he maintained the character of an able 
preacher, a diligent student and successful pastor. He 
was a most conscientious and sympathizing shepherd of 
his flock, and although not addicted to paying mere social 
visits and spending his time in unprofitable talk, yet he 
was ever ready at the call of the sick or needy, and was 
a most affectionate comforter of the bereaved. 

HIS MARRIAGE. 

Soon after his settlement in Baltimore, he married 
Miss Maria H. Ellis, of Andover, Massachusetts. Two of 
the children died young, and two, a son and daughter, 
with the mother, still survive. After her husband's 
death, Mrs. Stork retired to Andover, where she still 
lives. 

CALLS TO PENNSYLVANIA COLLEGE AND TO THE THEO- 
LOGICAL SEMINARY AT GETTYSBURG. 

In 1866 he was elected to the Graeff Professorship of 
English Language and Literature in Pennsylvania Col- 
lege, which he declined, and in 1868 he was chosen to a 
Professorship in the Seminary, the result of which is set 
forth in the following letters. 

TO HIS FATHER. 

Baltimore, Oct. 29tli, 1867. 

Dear Father : We are purposing to celebrate the 

Jubilee year here in as good style as possible. VV^e will publish 
tracts, raise subscriptions, and try to awaken the church. 

I had been somewhat cast down of late. My church has 
seemed so dead, and I have been so sluggish myself ; but the 
cloud is beginning to break away. I hope we shall do better. 



180 THE STORK FAMILY IN THE LUTHERAN CHtJRCfl. 

I have cast the burden of this work on God, and now I trouble 
myself less about results. 

It seems to me the longer I live the harder, more perplexed, 
life becomes. ■ My ministry grows heavier ; more anxieties, 
cares, disappointments, fall upon me. I feel like saying with 
Paul, " Who is sufficient for these things ?" Perhaps I have not 
been working right. My watch-word has been, I fear, "duty" 
rather than " love." I have begun to pray for more love, that 
all my nature and life may be love to God in a Saviour. I can- 
not keep up much longer under the duty pressure : I must have 
something higher, and stronger, and warmer. I feel like cry- 
ing all the time "Lead me to the rock that is higher than I." 
Indeed, I have felt that there must new light and life come into 
my soul, or I must give up my ministry. I could not live doing 
my work in a perfunctory, professional way. I must love it 
more, love it for Christ's sake more, or lay it down. I must 
realize that to live is Christ, or I feel as if I must die. 

Indeed, father, I have been going through deep water of late ; 
the floods have gone over my head. But I do not despair. I think 
I see the source of all my trouble. It has been self-sufficiency. 
I have felt too strong. I have been leani ng upon my gifts of 
mind and conscience. I have been more of a philosopher than 
a Christian. I have come to the convalescent period. I think 
I have made the total consecration of myself. I have, I hope, 
brought the last reserve and laid it down ; but I am very weak 
— when I pray, after I come from my closet, my soul burns, but 
the flame is feeble, it is soon quenched again. I must be ever 
new-consecrating myself. Pray for me, and come and see me. 

Charles A. Stork. 

Dr. Stork's letter declining an election to the Pro- 
fessorship of New Testament Exegesis and Church His- 
tory in the Theological Seminary at Gettysburg : 

Baltimore, 76 N. Paca St., Oct. 6, 1868. 
Rev. W. M. Baum, D. I).— Bear Bro.: I should have written 
you before, but pressing business has made it almost impossible 
to write at such leisure as I wished. 



REV. CHARLES A. STORK, D. D. 181 

I gave the considerations urged by the Committee careful 
thought, and left myself to such new impressions as your repre- 
sentations and those of Dr. Hay and Dr. Brown made ; and with 
the best light from reason and prayer, I cannot see my way 
clear to do otherwise than decline. 

The necessities of Gettysburg are important, but I cannot feel 
them so great as to call for my presence. This point I fully set 
forth in my letter to Dr. Brown. As far as the leadings of 
Providence are concerned, I feel only led to stay where I am. I 
feel a repugnance to the Professor's sphere : nay I feel more, a 
dread of it. I know, and on this point I only can be a compe- 
tent judge, that I should be doing violence to the whole bent of 
my nature to lapse into the mere speculative thinker and 
teacher. 

I am deeply touched by Dr. Hay's kind offer of the pastorate 
of the church in Gettysburg, but that would be no such sphere 
as I need. I have often felt that I must be an active minister of 
the gospel for my own sake — that in some sense I must preach 
and be a pastor to save my own soul. 

I am sorry to disappoint any expectations your kind brethren 
may have had concerning me. I feel all your kindness ; in- 
deed, one strong element of bias in considering the whole mat- 
ter has been an earnest desire to please and satisfy those whom 
I so much respect and love. But, at last, in the final decision, I 
felt constrained to put both the brethren of the Board and the 
brethren here in Maryland and Baltimore wholly out of sight, 
and decide without regard to the feelings or judgment of any 
one — simply on what I with the light God would give me could 
see to be my simple duty. I have decided. I have done to the 
best of my ability. I certainly may be mistaken, but I see no 
other way. Do not think more hardly of me and my decision 
because they may be adverse to your wishes. With the highest 
regard for your faithfulness and frankness in all matters, I remain 
your brother, Charles A. Stork. 

In illustration of a passage of this letter, the insertion 
of an extract from a letter of Dr. Hay to me, is proper 
9 



182 THE STORK FAMILY IN THE LUTHERAN CHURCH. 

at this place. He had the above letter of resignation be- 
forehim when he wrote his letter : 

"Dr. Stork's allusion to my offer of the pastorship of Christ's 
church in Gettysburg, as an inducement for him to accept the 
Professorship, reminds me of a similar offer I made to him when 
we as a College Board elected him to the Graeff Professorship 
of English Language and Literature some years ago. Dr. Sadt- 
ler and I were sent to Baltimore to urge his acceptance of the 
call, where we had a long interview with him. When he hesi- 
tated, and said that he would enjoy that sort of literary work, 
but feared to devote himself to it lest his own spiritual life 
should suffer, and that he needed the stimulus of the pulpit and 
l)astoral work for his own sake, I tiien offered him the College 
and Seminary pulpit, for I had not very long before that reluc- 
tantly consented to take it, when Dr. Baugher insisted on giving 
it up, and none of the others would take it. I took it for the 
time being, and would gladly have turned it over to him, and I 
am sure the people would have sanctioned the arrangement. 
But he covild not be prevailed upon to accept the position. You 
see from this letter that I renewed the offer when he was elected 
to a Seminary Professorship, and that he appreciated my feeling 
in the matter." 

I here insert several extracts from his letters to Mrs. 
Stork, during his presence at the meeting of the Synod 
of Maryland at Emmittsburg in October, 1870. They 
were dashed off in his rapid manner of writing, but they 
show his exquisite love of nature and his admiration of 
its beauties. Well might Mr. Alden say, " Nature was 
more to him than books, but its charms w^ere, in his mind, 
inseparably connected with the creations of the master 
poets." He was himself a poet : 

Dear B. : We have got to Monday morning, and Synod is still 
under way, full of business, and adjournment yet far off. I 



REV. CHARLES A. STORK, D. D. 183 

have just come into Synod, leaving the beautiful morning with 
reluctance to shut myself up in the church. It would be hard 
to make you understand how beautiful the country about this 
village is — a broad rolling plain, verdant, heavily wooded and yet 
soft and tender, sweeping to the foot of a range of mountains that 
are not lofty and abrupt enough to be grand, but yet are enough 
to give the softness of the landscape dignity and something of. 
strength. Yesterday was one of those lovely Sundays that seem 
to come down out of heaven — the air so soft and balmy, the 
sunshine so mellow and golden, the light haze on the hills and 
woods not enough to obscure, but only lending a tenderer, re- 
moter atmosphere to all the scene. I got through breakfast 
and my preparation for service by half past eight in the morn- 
ing, and then strolled out into the country to the top of a long, 
sloping hill, through a quiet winding lane that stole away from 
the town into the heart of the woods and hills. The hill gave 
me a pleasant outlook over the whole country almost. Oh, it 
was too sweet to leave ! I don't know which was the better, the 
morning view or one I had in the afternoon about 4 o'clock from 
a little valley, where a brook came bubbling down and wound 
away into the silent fields. 

This morning I got up at 6^ a. m., and took a walk into the 
country on another road, that faced the range of the mountains. 
I stood and looked, at them again in the morning light, for they 
change with all the hours of the day. There was one long broad 
slope to the right of the range that rose very gradually from the 
valley — its long, retreating swell was cleared of the forest, and 
farm after farm could be traced by the eye in their various col- 
ored fields stretching up and up, until on the edge of the cleared 
land — in a hollow, that seemed narrow enough for a man to 
stride across — a white farm-house, with gardens and orchards, 
peeped out. Beyond and above rose the thick woods away to 
the bristling top. To the left swept up a still taller peak, ab- 
rupt, steep, covered with woods from bottom to top . I thought 
I could look on all day. If you will go into the study, and look 
at that picture of mountains over the mantel-piece, you will get 



184 THE STORK FAMILY IN THE LUTHERAN CHURCH. 

something like an idea of what I see ; imagine that to be real, 
and fuller of trees, and you have it. I wish you could be with 
me to enjoy all these things. 
********•)«■ 

Emmtitsbubg, Md., Oct. 8th, 1870. 

Dear R. : I have had no time to write in Synod to-day, and 
indeed I have very little time to-night. It is 6^ p. m., and I 
have to go to church to make a speech pretty soon ; still I must 
give you a few lines. 

It has been a lovely day. Such serene airs, mellow sunlight, 
and the beautiful, unchanging mountans lying so silent, and yet 
as if they had so much to tell — how wonderful they are ! I was 
sitting down on the slope of the hill below the church in the 
afternoon, not a soul near, in all the stillness and soft beauty of 
the autumn sunlight. I drank it in, and got better and softer. 
We have had stormy times in Synod, and I have had to play a 
conspicuous part, and it had made me irritated and unrestful ; 
but the beautiful still afternoon soothed it all away. I grudged 
to go back to the church, and lose all the tranquil life of the 
open country-side. I walked up through the old grave-yard 
that lies round the church, and read some of the inscriptions on 
the tomb-stones, and listened to the tune that rolled out of the 
open window and mingled with the soft sighings of the wind in 
the willow trees over the graves. It was very solemn, and it 
was a good place to muse, and wander up and down. 

But I had to go in. I heard a good preparatory sermon, and 
then we had rather a rough session of Synod. 

My health has been better ; my rest and diet has helped me. 
I am getting quite tired, however, for the calls of business are 
incessant. The strain, too, on our temper is very hard. I am 
afraid it would spoil me to stay in such scenes long. I have 
to pray a great deal to keep straight. 

Your affectionate husband, Chas. A. Stork. 



CHAPTER IV. 

1874—1881. 

SECOND VISIT TO EUROPE — SYMPTOMS OF DISEASE — COMPELLED 
TO LAY ASIDE WORK — DEGREE OF D. D, — LECTURER ON HIS- 
TORY — LETTER FROM CHESTER, ENGLAND — ITINERARY — RE- 
TURN — WORK AT ST. mark's — MINISTERIAL STANDING — CON- 
TINUOUS SORE THROAT— DESPONDING LETTERS — REGAINS 
HOPE ONLY TO BE BLASTED — SUCCESS AS A PASTOR — HIS 
father's SERMONS — CHURCH AFFAIRS AND WORK. 

AS early as 1870, evidences of failing health began to 
be developed, but such was his indomitable energy 
that he continued to study and preach without inter- 
ruption for several months, until he was compelled to lay 
aside his work for awhile almost entirely. He, however, 
recovered from this attack and resumed his pastoral 
labors in the autumn. He was obliged to be exceedingly 
cautious, for the least exposure or unusual fatigue would 
betray suspicious symptoms. He was constantly on his 
guard, and this necessary vigilance was of itself depress- 
ing and had an unfavorable influence upon his delicate 
sensibility. 

But in 1874, there was such a manifest development 
of pulmonary disease that he was advised to give up all 
work and to spend the winter abroad, and he chose 
Egypt for the place of his retreat. On September 30, 
1874, he sailed for Europe, accompanied by his younger 
half brother, Theophilus B. Stork, of Philadelphia. 

(185) 



186 THE STORK FAMILY IN THE LUTHERAN CHURCH. 

The following letter to Mrs. Stork is appropriate here. 
Let the reader remember that this and all others of his 
letters occurring in this sketch were not intended for the 
public eye but those to his family are the mere natural 
out-gushings of fond affection written for them alone, and 
the others are mostly on business relating to the semi- 
nary and church. Dr. Stork never had time to write 
letters of mere friendship after he entered upon his life 
work. 

Before I introduce the letter, this is the proper time 
to state that in June of this summer, 1874, the honorary 
degree of Doctor of Divinity was conferred on him by 
Pennsylvania College, Gettysburg, and never was the 
distinction bestowed upon a man more eminently entitled 
to it. 

The previous winter, he delivered a course of lectures 
on History to the students of the Theological Seminary. 
This did not require a constant residence at Gettysburg, 
but he went up from Baltimore, remained four or five 
days, then returned so as to be in his pulpit on Sunday, 
and this was kept up for several weeks. 

LETTER FROM 0. A. STORK TO HIS WIFE. 

Queen Hotel, Chester, Eng., Oct. 11, 1874. 

Dear R . I am someway into England already, you see. 

We landed in Liverpool, Saturday, October 10th, at 10 a. m., 
after a run of 9 days and 17 hours, a short trip. We had the 
gale we met to thank for that ; it was a fierce storm, but as it 
came from the west it helped us on our way. It was so tem- 
pestuous on this coast that none of the steamers left Liverpool 
for New York on Thursday. We had a nerve-shaking time. 

We went ashore in a pelting rain. A long drive of four miles 



EEV. CHARLES A. STORK, D, D. 18T 

to the hotel which opens right into the great North Western 
Railway station. Theo. and I got a room, cleaned ourselves 
up after the abominations of the voyage, and then sallied out 
into Liverpool in the fog and rain to get some money and do 
some shopping. We neither of us knew anything of the city, a 
place as big as three of Boston, but somehow one gets an instinct 
of cities, so we got through in good time, strolled through a 
market-full of the richest flowers and the cheapest fruit on our 
way back, and by rushing things, got off to Chester by 3^ in the 
afternoon. The clouds cleared away, and after a rushing ride 
of 50 minutes we glided into Chester in a glorious sunset. We 
strolled about the town till dark in the midst of a great horse 
fair ; the place is full of farmers, jockeys, Welsh horses and men, 
and the most cunning, meek little Welsh ponies, about the size 
of a good-sized calf. 

We are stopping at a comfortable, yes, even elegant English 
hotel. Everything is heavy and cumbrous compared with our 
American hotel equipments, but all is rich and unspeakably 
clean and comfortable. Perhaps this is enhanced by contrast 
with the horrors of the ocean voyage. Such great, soft beds, 
such heavy carpets, snowy linen — the name of the hotel is not 
only on all the china and silver, and steel, but even woven into 
the table linen, stamped on the knives. Did I not sleep well 
last night ? 

This morning I was -wakened by a multitude of sparrows 
chirping at my window. The sun rose clear and warm. I hur- 
ried out and took a walk of an hour before breakfast. . I strolled 
through a beautiful park, saw the ruin of an old abbey, now 
restored to St. John the Baptist church, built 1067. I dropped 
in at the Cathedral on my way back to early morning service, 
and got back to find Theo. just sitting down to breakfast. 
We attended service at the Cathedral at 11 o'clock. I will not 
attempt to describe the Cathedral ; it is too big and rambling, 
with cloister enclosing a green lovely bit of sward, and all man- 
ner of curious and beautiful things . But the Cathedral service 
was something marvellous. From 50 to 100 choristers, with no 
end of singing. All the "Aniens" are sung; all the Psalms 



188 THE STORK FAMILY IN THE LUTHERAN CHURCH. 

are sung instead of read — in fact, they sing everything they can. 
I would have hardly been surprised if the preacher had sung 
his sermon — he came as near to it as he could in a sort of stam- 
mering recitative ; but it was a good, wholesome, kindly sermon, 
and the preacher was a lovely old man. I got a pleasant bow 
from him as I strolled through the Cathedral after service. But 
the music — well, it is simply wonderful ; the soprano voices 
of the boys were so heavenly clear and pure ; such tenors, and 
a great rolling bass — I don't mean one man, for each part was 
carried by 15 or 20. It was the perfection of church music. 
How I wished for you to be beside me. But the setting of it 
all : that great, arched ceiling ; those columns and arches 
stretching away in the distance ; the wonderful glory of the 
vast stained windows ; the vestments, the rich throng of clergy 
in parti-colored vestments— and then through a great row of 
high windows far up in the vaulted ceiling, streamed in right in 
the midst of one of the anthems a full burst of sunlight. Well, 
it was all very fine, beautiful, inspiring ; but do you know I did 
not feel half so religious as in the evening, when I went to a 
Methodist church and heard them sing, and joined with them, 
in "Not all the blood of beasts," etc. The Cathedral service 
was over two hours long — so Theo. and I refreshed ourselves 
with a stroll round the ramparts. You know Chester is an old 
Roman city, and it still has its wall about it entire, two miles 
long. We walked round the w^hole city, seeing the most ancient 
and curious sights ; looking into people's back-yards and down 
into their kitchens, with a fine view into garrets and down chim- 
neys. Such a quaint, queer, racy old place as this is, such pic- 
turesque views, and strange old houses all jumbled up without 
place or order, I cannot describe. 

To-morrow we hope to get to Hereford on our way to Devon- 
shire. It is too cold and wet for Wales— so we have given that 
up. My health is very good ; I am drinking quantities of milk — 
I think it agrees with me. I took cold on the steamer ; but that 
is wearing away. 

Ah, R , do you think all these fine things make me glad 

to be here ? I tell you I would, if only my health would permit. 



REV. CHARLES A. STORK, D. D. 189 

choose without a moment's hesitation to be back at work — I am 
home-sick : that is, I have a steady longing to be back with you 
all. I want quiet. I would give all these strange and really 
beautiful experiences for my old study, and the old dining-room, 
you and the others with us. Sometimes I think it will never 
be : but that is wrong. "Your Father knoweth that ye have 
need of all these things." I hope I am growing more submis- 
sive and content with His ways. But I do hate travel ; though 
I will get the most I can out of it. Love to all. 

Your affectionate husband, C. A. Stork. 

It is to be regretted that more letters describing his 
foreign tour could not be procured. I here place a mea- 
gre itinerary furnished bj one of the parties, which will 
still be read with interest by many of his friends : 

September 30th, 1874. Left New York in Cunard steamship 
Algeria. 

October 10th. Arrived in Liverpool ; experienced gale off 
Irish Coast. 

October 11th. Chester ; attended service in Cathedral, it being 
Sunday. 

October 12th to 31st. Hereford ; fine Norman cathedral. We 
wandered southward, visiting Ross, Tintern Abbey, Raglan Cas- 
tle, and then crossed the Bristol channel to Bristol, then to 
Wells, with its fine cathedral, and then to Exeter, the capital of 
the West. From Exeter we went to Bideford on the North 
coast of Devon, Clevelly, Ilfracombe, Plymouth, and finally to 
Torquay, a fashionable watering place on the South coast, where 
we spent two weeks. 

November. We went up to London, and thence almost direct 
to Cannes, in the south of France, breaking the journey at Paris, 
Lyons and Marseilles — Dr. Stork not feeling strong enough to 
go through without stopping. We arrived at Cannes Wednes- 
day, November 11th, 1874. As December approached it began 
to grow cold. 

December 11th. We left for Genoa, there to take ship to Egypt. 
9* 



190 THE STORK FAMILY IN THE LUTHERAN CHURCH. 

We sailed December 15tli in the Italian steamer, but we had 
hardly got outside the harbor when she broke down, and we had 
to put back to anchor. The next day we crossed to Venice, and 
took the Peninsular and Oriental Company's steamer Venetia for 
Alexandria, where we arrived on Christmas eve. 

From December 27th, 1874, to February 17th, 1875, we spent 
quietly in Cairo, walking, or riding on queer little donkeys, 
about the city and its vicinity. 

We left Alexandria for Malta in the steamer Bavarian, being 
the only passengers, and arrived at Malta February 24th, 1875. 

From Malta, March 3d, 1875, we steamed to the ancient Syra- 
cuse in Sicily, about twelve hours' trip. By rail we skirted the 
eastern coast of Sicily by Catania to Messina, thence to Paler- 
mo by steamer, the railway going no farther. 

From Palermo we steamed north to Naples ; and, after numer- 
ous excursions in the neighborhood, we reached Rome on Easter 
eve, March 27th, 1875. 

April 30th. From Rome we went, by way of Orvieto and Si- 
enna, to Florence, stopping a day in each of the first two cities. 
From Florence to Bologna, then to Venice, and then to Milan, 
Turin, Geneva, via Mont Cenis, spending a week at Villeneuve, 
on Lac Leman ; then to Paris, visiting Chartres cathedral, 
Dover, taking a glance at Canterbury cathedral, then to London, 
May 31st, 1874. 

While staying in London we ran down to Brighton, and across 
by Plymouth to the Isle of Wight, then back by Winchester ; 
and finally we went north, taking on our way to Liverpool the 
three great cathedrals of Peterboro, Lincoln, and York, reaching 
Liverpool about middle of June. Thence we sailed in steamship 
Parthia to Boston. 

He returned from this tour, which extended east as far 
as Egypt, Avhere, as has been said, he spent the winter 
much benefited, and resumed his work in St. Mark's with 
bouyant expectations of long years of uninterrupted ac- 
tivity. He labored with an energy which too severely 



REV. CHARLES A. STORK, D. D. 191 

strained his strength, and for several years he vacillated 
between hope and fear, apparent vigor and very decided 
debility ; and it was during this period that he wrote and 
preached those beautiful sermons in the " Selections," 
entitled " The Fellowship of Christ's Sufferings," '' True 
Christian Patience," and others of a like character. He 
was not a constant sufferer ; frequently he seemed per- 
fectly well, and at such times his anxious friends would 
be buoyed up with hope ; but, perhaps, the next Sunday 
would show the unwelcome reality that his throat was 
seriously affected, for his voice would be hoarse, his 
breathing labored, and his cough painful. The slightest 
effort seemed to exhaust him, and he was liable to take 
cold in an atmosphere which was bracing to persons in 
good health. His hearers deeply sympathized with him 
in his infirmities, and listened to his preaching with the 
utmost apprehension. They admired the zealous spirit 
in the man which impelled him to preach when he per- 
haps should have been in bed, or at least at home in his 
quiet study. But amid all his constrained exertions to 
speak distinctly, with which the hoarseness of his voice 
often interfered, there was no deterioration of mental 
vigor. His genius sparkled with the same brilliancy, 
and flashes of light still burst forth from his eyes. His 
language was as rich as in his palmiest days, and the 
most striking illustrations flowed forth abundantly from 
his fervid imagination. 

There never was a pastor who was more highly es- 
teemed by his people. They besought him to cease his 
efforts, or preach but rarely. Occasionally he would be 



192 THE STORK FAMILY IN THE LUTHERAN CHURCH. 

compelled to yield, and for weeks his voice would not be 
heard in the pulpit, and he would go on short journeys ; 
but he was uneasy and dejected, for this compulsory 
silence, with cessation from study, was exceedingly irk- 
some to him. How could a man of his active mind en- 
dure such privations with any degree of composure ? 
Early in 1877 he writes : 

I have been suffering from my throat ever shice I was in Phil- 
adelphia. You will remember 1 had a cough then. Well, it 
got worse, and I have not preached for a month till last Sunday. 
I tried one sermon then ; but it threw me back. The doctor 
says it will be a tedious affair. Possibly I may be laid up for 
the summer. I have no pain, but only a loss of voice. My 
cough, w^hich was quite bad, is nearly all gone ; now I must 
wait for strengtli to come back But the long continu- 
ance of the weakness is beginning to make me feel a little de- 
pressed. I suppose I am to struggle as did father — now able to 
preach, and then laid up. But the doctor tells me it is nothing ; 

if only we could fully trust the doctors We shall 

have a pleasant and profitable summer ; that is, if we do not get 
too much depressed about my throat. I know we ought to be 
cheerful, and take gladly anything God sends, but a weight of 
melancholy seems to press on me sometimes, and though I am 
not rebellious, I do feel sad. 

Perhaps God means iis to be sad. It may be good for us to 
be made to feel weak and dependent. I am sure I inherit from 
father something of a tendency to be melancholy at times.* 

A few months later he writes more cheerfully : "I am 
feeling very strong and able to work ; I rejoice in the 
strength and want to use it for the best while I have it, 
knowing that when the days of weakness come, as they 
must come to all, then God will give me just as perfect 

* " Light on the Pilgrim's Way," p. 22. 



REV. CHARLES A. STORK, D. D. 193 

peace and satisfaction in weakness, as I have now in 
strength." 

He had by this time secured an influential reputation 
in our church. He was known to be one of our most 
thorough scholars and most impressive preachers, and 
his writings in ihe reviews and church papers were uni- 
versally admired, and yet no man was ever less ambitious 
than he of gaining the applause of men and less sensitive 
to praise. But it was not only in the literary and 
theological departments of his profession that he became 
conspicuous, but in many of the active operations of the 
church he felt the liveliest interest. The mission work 
seemed to be his favorite, and his earnest sympathy for 
this cause easily led his brethren to the conclusion of 
electing him to the responsible position of President of 
the Board of Foreign Missions. This office he filled with 
great credit to himself and advantage to the Society. 

He raised more money in his own church for the 
various religious societies of the church and benevolent 
objects in general than three or four other congregations 
together, and it was all owing to the perfect system he 
adopted and the industry and energy which he infused into 
the young persons appointed as collectors of these funds. 
Everything was admirably arranged and the whole ma- 
chinery worked without friction or delay. And this, for 
the most part, is the secret of success in raising funds for 
missionary and other purposes. Many a minister com- 
plains of failures, when the fault is in himself and not in 
his people. He follows no system, nor rules, nor order ; 
every thing is done in confusion, or is entrusted to incom- 



194 THE STOEK FAMILY IN THE LUTHERAN CHURCH. 

petent hands ; no pains are taken to render the people 
intelligent on the subject, and no wonder that failure and 
mortification ensue. 

Baltimore, March, 1878. 
* * * * You know we Americans are always over- 
working ourselves. It is a tremendously busy age ; we forget 
what Christ said to the disciples: "Come ye apart and rest 
awhile." We think nothing will go unless we are always push- 
ing. I am learning how to rest. Some days, I just throw my- 
self down and lie on the lounge and play with our boy, or read 
a novel all day, as if there was nothing else in the world to do, 
and then the next day, I am fresh again. Sometimes I think 
our feverish activity is not so much from ardent consecration as 
from a lack of faith in the vast unseen power of God moving on 
the world. 

ON THE PUBLICATION OF HIS FATHER'S SERMONS, TO HIS 
BROTHER. 

Baltimore, 1876. 

My dear T . I am glad for the advanced condition of the 

"Sermons." Some one asked me last night when they would 
be out; an expression of interest called out, I suspect, by my 
article on father's texts. As for the covers, I am satisfied to 

leave that to you and S ; something modest and yet rich, and 

with a touch of individuality, so that the book is not lost and in- 
distinguishable among the mob of such publications. 

Your description of the attractive quality of father's sermons 
reminded me of one of Beecher's sayings of popular preaching — 
"People like to hear preaching that shows them their own 
thoughts idealized, so they can say, ' I knew I was right ; but 
now I see I was gloriously right ;' " — that is the substance of it. 
But I fancy there were some things father said, that many of 
his hearers honored with a vigorous dissent. I know he used 
sometimes to have the comforting testimony of opposition and 
irritation aroused by his preaching. But on the whole, hoW' 
ever, what you say is a very just criticism. 



REV. CHARLES A. STORK, D. D. 195 

Did I ever tell you of a scene in my church one Sunday night, 
apropos of the above ? I was preaching on Lot's choice of Sodom 
for a home and its disastrous outcome, as showing the peril of 
worldly association and the mischief a man makes for himself 
by putting wealth and ease first in his scheme of life. At the 
close, after deploring Lot's miserable failure in fortune and life 
as the legitimate result of his mercenary choice — I said : "Who 
would make Lot's choice, and take Lot's end?" And at this 
point, a young man who had been twisting and showing his dis- 
satisfaction for some time, rose up and cried out — ^'•Here's one 
that goes for Lot,'''' and picked up his hat, rushed down the aisle 
and slammed the door after him, with all the signs of being in a 
great rage. I thought at first he was drunk. But those sitting 
by told me he was not, but had been waxing uncomfortable all 
through the latter half of the sermon. Odd, wasn't it? 

How charming the coming of spring has been this year. I 
was out in the country a day or two ago ; it was cool and fresh, 
and the foliage and grass green of that brilliant tint that looks as 
if the fields and groves were just about breaking into a smile. Do 
you know I was reminded of Devonshire and the green hills 
there ; but we only have that soft, deep touch on our verdure 
for a week of May and then it is gone. We have such a fierce, 
brassy summer. But as I looked from the crest of a hill across 
a rolling country of fields and woods I thought that for a short 
time, at least, we need not go away from home to find beautiful 
nature. 

TO HIS STEP-MOTHER. 

Baltimore, February 3, 1876. 

Dear Mother : I have been troubled a good deal 

with my church. Whilst I was away some difficulties arose 

and I as pastor cannot escape being involved in 

them. Disputes and disagreements are bad enough anywhere, 
but in the Church of Christ they are a double grief. I feel as 
though my hands were tied. When I get up to preach it seems 
ail in vain ; and it is hard even to pray. One man has left the 
church, but the matter is not settled yet. But I think I see the 
way clear to an adjustment. I do not want to trouble you with 



196 THE STORK FAMILY IN THE LUTHERAN CHURCH. 

these things — only I know you will sympathize. Father had 
the same distresses, and I think they bore more heavily on 
him than on me. 

I feel so strong and well that I easily throw the matter off; 
only I do grieve for the church. Of course such things retard 
the progress of the Gospel. The Spirit flies from strife. 

Still we prosper. The church is in good condition. This will 
pass over. 

Very pleasant things come in to refresh and cheer, too. The 
other day an elderly lady from Boston, a friend of R.'s, who 
is spending the winter in Baltimore, applied for some religious 
books to read : among others, I gave her father's " Afternon ;" 
and she came back delighted with it. She said it seemed just 
written for her, and wanted more of his books. I gave her 
" The Unseen World ;" and then she asked if he had no sermons. 
Willie gave a copy of ''Afternoon" to his partner, Mr. Wright, 
who you know is in consumption ; and he said it had done him 
a great deal of good. Here are two, who never knew father at 
all, editied and lielped by his words. I was worried and de- 
jected when this lady came to speak of the delight father's book 
had given her, and I cannot tell you how the little incident 
cheered and refreshed me. It made me think of the words, 
"He being dead, yet speaketh." 

I have been trying to stir up our Conference to do something 
special for the debt of our Foreign Mission Board. It is a shame 
that we should be so supine here at home, when our missionaries 
are really harassed in their work by money cares. I see by the 
Observer what you have done for them. You have your reward. 
I only hope others may be stirred up. 

Baltimore, July 14, 1877. 

Dear Mother: The cold I had when I was last in Philadel- 
phia increased afterwards, and I was laid off from preaching for 
nearly six weeks. I was afraid it was something serious. My 
voice was very weak. But now that is all past. I am preaching 
again, once a day, and my throat is rapidly regaining its usual 
vigor. 

One thing that helped me to get well sooner was a press of 



REV. CHARLES A. STORK, D. D. 197 

business in church matters that gave me no time to think about 
my condition. 

You know, I suppose, that a change has been made in the 
Board of Missions. Most of the okl Board have been removed, 
and the new body is composed of ministers and laymen in Balti- 
more and Washington, This was that the members might be 
all in the same neighborhood, to facilitate conference and the 
dispatch of business. I have been appointed President of the 
Board in place of Dr. Albert, and new men fill the other offices. 

This makes quite a clean sweep. I knew nothing of it till it 
was all done. I should have opposed the change had I known 
it in time. For one thing, I hardly feel able for the responsi- 
bility and additional labor it imposes on me. I am not strong, 
and what strength I have I think I could use for the church in 
a more private station, to greater advantage. A great deal of 
planning, correspondence and general direction comes neces- 
sarily upon me. My doctor opposed my assuming the position, 
but I consented to try it for three months. I have got things 
pretty well into shape for the rest of the summer, and now I 
think of taking some rest. I went to Gettysburg to deliver 
an address to the young men at Commencement ; I had also a 
good deal of work in the Board of the Seminary of which I 
am a director, so I came home quite tired, but I am rested now, 
and feel ready for fresh labor. The older I get the more I feel 
the force of Christ's words: *'The night cometh in which no 
man can work ;" and the more peace and joy I have in serving 
Him and my fellow-men. It is a great blessedness to feel that 
I can do something to be helpful to men, to know the sympathy 
of seeking goodness for myself and for others, and to be a co- 
laborer with God. I am not restless, nor feverish ; but while I 
work more, I have a great inward calm. I am subject occasion- 
ally to fits of melancholy, like father ; but these I think are 
only the reaction from work. And most of the time I can say 
"great is their peace who wait on Thee." 



198 THE STORK FAMILY IN THE LUTHERAN CHURCH. 

TO HIS STEP-MOTHER. 

Baltimore, December, 1877. 

My work is prospering measurably. I believe I am one who 
is destined never to have any great success, nor any great fail- 
ure. I jog along the foot-path way. I can't say but that I 
would like to have something more stirring and marked, a 
great crowd to preach to, many and striking conversions — large 
achievements. But if I am to do ordinary work in a quiet way 
I hope to be satisfied. I was much struck lately by a remark 
made in the Spectator, apropos of the life of a good man who, 
with many opportunities and some fine gifts, yet failed of his 
chief project for doing good, and passed away impressed by the 
tliought that he had achieved very little. His character, how- 
ever, was greatly chastened and ripened as he grew old, and the 
reviewer says his friends at last recognized in his life "that the 
highest end of existence is neither to shine nor to achieve, but 
to do the Divine will." That, after all, is the deepest truth ; we 
fall back on that, when all else fails ; that we cannot be disap- 
])ointed of — being one with Christ in accepting and accomplish- 
ing God's will. 

There have been a good many deaths in my church this fall. 
And the hard times press everybody. They have been rather dark 
days — not to me personally, but m. the sympathies called forth 
for others. I have been trying to help a good many ; and, to tell 
the truth, I have been imposed upon by some plausible rogues. 
I have been a little mortified to find how much I have lacked 
the "wisdom of the serpent." You will say that is no fault ; 
but I think it is. It is our duty to get wisdom, to learn, to know 
how to help men without being imposed on. Well, I have learned 
something. 

My foreign mission debt effort is almost finished. We have 
raised the $7,000 within a few hundreds -only seven more shares 
are needed, and I have do doubt those will be in after a few days. 
It has been right hard work, but it has done the churches good ; 
they are somewhat surprised and greatly encouraged to see 
what they could do. It is not much, indeed ; but it is a step in 
advance. 



REV. CHARLES A. STORK, D. D. 199 

I am down for a paper on "Liturgies" at the Diet to be held 
in Dr. Baum's church, December 27th. So you may look for 
me about that time. I hope we may get some food out of this 
meeting. We come together not to dispute and legislate, but to 
confer together as brethren on great points of church life. I 
could have wished that the subject had taken a more practical 
turn, but I had no choice in that. 



LETTER TO HIS STEP-MOTHER. 

Baltimore, March 27, 1878. 

My eyes are getting better. I use them two hours 

a day now, and that suffices for the present. My enforced rest 
was good for me. I went out to visit my people, and had plenty 
of time to sit in my chair by the fire and think. Meditation I 
find quite as profitable as study. It is good to be pulled up in 
the midst of active labors and be compelled to stop and think 
on one's ways. I find when I am well, and have nothing to hin- 
der my activity, I get going too fast — I become absorbed in what 
I am doing, and lose myself. Then comes a spell that throws 
me back on myself — as the old devout writers say, I re-collect 
myself; I find where I am ; I see what a poor thing one's best 
work is. I get time to settle, and that is a good thing, for there 
is no doubt one's heart and life get turbid by too much business 
here and there. In this way I get a fresh hold on reality, on 
God, and then I am off again. So I do not feel it lost time when 
I cannot study or write. It is so good to be fallen for a time ; 
to be perfectly x^assive, and find how God works on us when we 
can do nothing . 

The trouble with this age, religiously, as well as in other 
things, is its intense activity outwardly ; it has no time to think 
— to be still before God, and recognize how vast is that power 
that is working in us and through us. Our intense practicability 
and hurrying to and fro stir up a cloud of dust that hides God 
from us. 



200 -THE STORK FAMILY IN THE LUTHERAN CHURCH. 

Baltimore, February 11, 1879. 

Dear Mother : I have been intending to wiite for some days ; 
but every day seems full to the brim. I am glad you get any com- 
fort or cheer out of my letters. I know I ought to write oftener ; 
but I never yet have got over the miserable fault of procrasti- 
nation in letter-writing. 

Since the first of the year I have been very busy with a series 
of meetings in my church. AYe began the year by observing the 
Week of Prayer in union with all the churches, and a good week 
it was for us — it gave us a start. Then we had meetings in our 
own church without intermission night after night. We are 
now in the fifth week. And what has come of it ? Well, the 
church has been much quickened, a few of careless young peo- 
ple have been brought back, and there have been a few conver- 
sions. But the work thus far has been chiefly in the church it- 
self. You know it must begin there ; and my church needed it. 
We have had a great deal of what I call "dead-wood" — mere 
nominal professors, who come in and go out, and are very respect- 
able, but have no real life. They have been a burden on me and 
a hindrance to the real work of the church, and now I think the 
nibbish is getting on fire. 

I have had some very interesting experience in watching the 
flush of life come into souls^these torpid souls. I never tire of 
the wonder there is in a soul that begins to come to itself, and 
opens its eyes on the spiritual world. The wonder, the vision 
that comes to them then, of a new existence that was before 
unseen — they are a miracle. 

I have done all the work myself, preaching every night. I 
have held out wonderfully well, for preaching, it comes very 
easy. You know I seldom write, but make a few notes, and 
then dash on. 

My congregations have doubled in size, and strangers are com- 
ing in. But I do not expect to go on much longer There is 
such a thing as an excess of religious meetings, and I am not 
going to have my people strained unreasonably. 

I have been quite intimately associated with Mr. Moody in his 
work here. He is a rough man, with no education outside of 



REV. CHARLES A. STORK, D. D. 201 

the Bible, but there is a great charm about him. His humility, 
frankness, sweetness of temper, and downright sincerity, make 
him very attractive. I took his place one night at his request ; 
he was taken sick, and asked me to preach for him. I had a 
great church packed with people. 

TO HIS STEP-MOTHER. 

Baltimore, September, 1879. 

I am busy just now, in addition to my other work, 

in reviewing Dr. Sprecher's new book on theology. It is a huge 
work (500 octavo pages) of very tough and profound writing, 
and it is quite a task to go through with it faithfully. It will 
be a credit to our Lutheran church, and though very philosophi- 
cal, is very full of the Spirit of the Gospel. I have found it 
quite stirring. But you will see my review of it in the Observer 
and in the Quarterly. 

I have been reading a very tender and deeply spiritual book 
this summer, " The Letters of Thomas Erskine.^" He was a very 
deep and earnest Christian of Scotland, a friend of Dr. Chal- 
mers. His presentation of Christian truth struck me as very 
rich and sweet. You may have noticed a story I quoted from 
him in a piece in the Observer of last week. He specially dwells 
on the thought of our fellowship in the sufferings of Christ ; and 
that the Christian is not complete in Christ until not only he has 
received Christ crucified for him, but is also crucified with Him. 
That I think is a very deep, and though at first-sight a repelling, 
yet when we experience it, a very precious truth of our holy 
faith. To die to self, to be baptized in suffering, to receive the 
strokes of God, and so to rise in Christ, and to be one with Him 
— that to me of late is growing more and more a rich part of the 
faith. 

TO HIS BROTHER, T. B. STORK. 

Baltimore, October 8, 1879. 

I can imagine how happy you must be in your 

home. The touch of the earth — one's own bit of mother-earth — 



202 THE STORK FAMILY IN THE LUTHERAN CHURCH. 

gives a flavor to life that is unique ; it is the homely flavor that 
gives to all the rest of life's finer experience the sense of reality, 
of being solidly based, and not a mere dream. I never had a 
bit of ground myself, and have always lived in houses that were 
mine only by a fiction. I am like Abram, who lived in tents, 
and had not a foot of ground in the land promised him. But I 
enjoy the earth-love by proxy. I have had so many friends 
that were rooted in their own soil, and by a sympathetic trans- 
fer I tested their experience. 

One of the drawbacks to a minister's life is, that he never takes 
root ; that is, he of course does fasten to the place of his labor 
by many very tender and pleasant ties, but they are only root- 
lets after all — he never can let himself strike down, so to speak, 
a tap-root, and be anchored for life. In some sort of sense he 
is always feeling that his field is the world. 

I have just had under consideration a proposal to go to San 
Francisco ; there were many reasons to urge my going, but I 
finally settled to decline, because of the danger my throat would 
be in from that raw climate. And now I am thinking of a call 
to another far-away city. Probably I shall not go, but the 
mere openness a minister must feel to these calls hither and 
thither, all give him the sense of a rover. I read last night a 
beautiful prayer of an old German which ends thus, and some- 
how it seems to voice my feeling — " Adde animum imperterritum, 
ut ex hac vita tanquam ex hospitio, non tanquam ex domo, Te 
jubente, j^lo-cide discedam.'' 

But I enter into your feeling about your spot of earth ; it is 
natural, healthy, and one of God's very best gifts to us here. I 
am glad to see a man settled on his own turf; and when I walk 
about with a friend over his place, that home-feeling seems to 
me to be one of the sweetest senses that this old. earth of ours 
can affbrd. 

Baltimore, Sept. 28, 1880. 
Dear Mother : Thanks for you for the recipe for a throat-gar- 
gle ; I should think it would be ^ood. My voice is something 



REV. CHARLES A. STORK, D. D. 203 

better, and I think on the whole I am improving ; but it is slow 
work. 

I found my church in good condition. The people received 
me cordially, and I set to work with good heart. I am only 
preaching once on Sunday for the present, till my voice im- 
proves. 

We have been quite busy in Foreign Mission matters, getting 
a missionary to take Mr. Rowe's place in India. We tliiuk we 
have a man, one who will make a most excellent missionary. 
But Mr. Rowe will tell you all about this when he sees you. 
He expects to be in Philadelphia at the end of this week, when 
he will call upon you, and explain all India matters. 

Baltimore, April, 1880. 

The older I get the more I feel that there, after 

all, is our strength. I used to think when I was beginning my 
ministry that I was strong and able to do great things, but 
every year I am less and less self-confident ; I think sometimes 
I am growing timid ; but I trust a great deal more in God, and 
I go to Him more. 

I am trying just now to patch myself up ; I have been going 
through a siege at the dentist's, and I go every morning to a 
new physician who promises to cure my throat. He has already 
done me good, and I think I am in a fair way to get rid of the 
soreness and hoarseness ; but the ijrocess by syringing the throat 
is very disagreeable and even painful. What an amount of 
patching and mending these poor bodies of ours require ! 

* * * ** ^ ^ ^ ^ 

My church goes along in a steady way, though I have been 
much depressed of late to see how little good, in comparison 
with what I hoped to do, I am effecting, I measure my pastoral 
success by what father used to do, and I see how far short I 
come of what he was able to do, and I feel cast down. Some- 
times I think I inherit more of his melancholy and timidity than 
of his eftective gifts. I feel sad and unable to do any work from 
an influx of unreasonable despondency, and it is only by prayer 
and active exertion that I succeed at all in shutting it off. I 



204 THE STORK FAMILY IN THE LUTHERAN CHURCH. 

look back over my life, and it seems sometimes as if I had done 
nothing at all, that I have been only an unfaithful and wasteful 
servant. I am afraid I have been naturally very proud and self- 
sufficient, and it has required a great deal of humbling and pain- 
ful experience to bring me to a true and real sense of just what 
I am. I have no complaint to make of God or any one, but it 
does make me sad to think I have come to be over forty and 
have made so little real spiritual progress. People look to me 
for counsel and inspiration and guidance, and I often feel as if 
I was unfit to guide or inspire any one ; I need to be counseled 
and led myself. Well, God has told us to come to Him and be 
counseled and inspired by Him ; and all I can do is just to 
throw myself on Him, and beg Him to have patience with me 
and give me greater measure of grace, and to fit me yet for 
better service. 

I did not mean to write in such a doleful strain, but somehow 
it has come of itself. There are so few to whom I can speak 
the deei)er troubles of my soul ; so few who are like-minded, 
and can understand what one means by feeling empty and poor 
in spirit. Sometimes I think the only blessing I can fully claim 
is that first one, '^Blessed are the 'poor in spirit,^^ for I am feeling 
of late very poor in spirit. 

Dear Mother : The last few days have made us feel as though 
summer were almost over ; there is a feeling of autumn in the 
air. How swiftly the seasons and years flee away ! I am 
sorry the summer rest has not done for me what I had hoped 
it would. I kept getting steadily worse till the middle of 
August ; then things seemed to take a turn upward, and 
I have been slowly improving. I am under the treatment of 
a physician who has been quite successful in throat diseases. 
He promises me that I shall be fit for work by November or, at 
the latest, December. But till then he forbids me to preach or 
lecture even in the class-room. I shall make arrangements to 
be relieved of work till the middle of November. Then I hope 
to go on — this is the hopeful view. Of course there is another 
side ; I may go back again. I think my throat is a good deal 



HEV. CHARLES A. STORK, D. D. 205 

like father's, and I suppose at last it will carry me off. But 
whatever comes, it is all right. I am ready to go on and work, 
and I hope I am ready to lay down work if the Master says so, 
and go hence. I do think these sufferings of the body, telling 
us how weak we are, how frail the thread that holds us here, 
help to make us sit light to the world, and to give up what we 
naturally cling to. 

The Seminary is thoroughly repaired, the painting 

done well, and everything, tlianksto you, looks well, fresh, clean 
and strong. 

You will see in the September number of the Missionary 
Journal, that I have taken your remarks in your last letter as 
the text of an editorial on "Our Hindrances." I, with you, 
grieve at the slowness of God's people to answer to the cry to 
come to the help of the Lord ; but yet there are gleams of 
brightness ; there are the faithful ones and the Lord reigneth. 

* * * -X- -JJ- * * ^ * 

LETTER FROM C. A. STORK. 

Baltimore, March, 1880. 
Dear Mother : I am, indeed, hard at work, doing what I can, 
and having to refuse to do a great deal more. I have had a cold 
in my system for the last few months that has exhausted me a 
good deal. This new Missionary Journal, too, takes a great deal 
of time and thought. So I should be glad to rest after Easter. 

As to going to Atlantic City, I do not know ; I do 

love the sea, and it rests me. Will Theo. go ? But that can be 
disposed of after I get to Germantown. I have some thoughts 
of going on to New York for a few days ; but I have fixed on 
nothing. ...... It is a great pity Mr. Rowe must return 

from India, but I suppose there is no help for it. We are look- 
ing about for some one to take his place : it is hard to find one 
who is strong enough in body, able enough in mind, and at the 
same time fervent enough in spirit to be sent out as a missionary. 
We had one young man in mind who was fully qualified, and 
full of zeal to go but the Doctor said no he would not be able 
to stand the climate for six months. So him we had to give up. 
10 



206 THE STOKK FAMILY IN THE LUTHERAN CHURCH. 

As to the Madras Scholarship, I thhik it would be best to de- 
fer acting in that matter till we see Mr. Rowe. The Board 
have been discussing the expediency of postponing the erection 
of the boys' boarding school of wliich Mr. Uhl wrote, and for 
which you gave tlie $300, and putting up first a school and room 
for the Zenana work among the women, which has opened a 
new field for our mission. Of course that will be just as you say. 
If you prefer the boys' boarding school, as you proposed, that 
will go on ; but if you would wish to have the Zenana school 
for the caste girls and women, you could transfer the money to 
that purpose. We have already sent the money out to India 
with instructions to build the boys' school ; but, perhaps, it 
would be better to let that wait, and hasten on with the Zenana 
school building. It will be just as you wish. 

And now about scholarships in our institution for the grand- 
children. Many thanks, dear mother, for your kind fore- 
thought : as you suggested, education is the best thing we can 
give to those that are to come after us. As to scholarships for 
the girls in our female seminaries, there are no provisions of 
that sort made in female schools. That arrangement is only 
found in our colleges. For the boys a scholarship can easily 
be had in the college at Gettysburg. What the cost would be, 
and the details, I do not exactly know. I will inquire and find 
out all about it ; and then we will discuss the matter when I see 
you after Easter. 

Dr. Brown's sad condition has put everything in such an un- 
certain state at the Seminary, that we all feel unsettled as to 
what is to come out of it in our educational work. You know 
the probabilities are that his mind will never be fit for much 
again. They have already asked me to take the Review. I 
would like to do it ; but I cannot take any more such loads. I 
promised to do what I could to help them ; but the control and 
headship of so grave a responsibility I felt constrained to de- 
cline . 

My people are fearing they may want to call me to Gettys- 
burg to teach there. I trouble myself not at all about it ; all 
these things are in the future, out of my reach, and I feel that I 



REV. CHARLES A. STORK, D. D. 207 

have no right to be takmg serious thought about such a far-ofif 
morrow. If God wants me to go, He will let me know in due 
time. In the meanwhile I live on from day to day, not fore- 
casting the future, but doing the work of the present. 

Baltimore, 72 N.Paca St., Oct. 21, 1880. 

You will notice by the Observer that our Mission 

Boards have requested the churches to observe Reformation 
Day, October 31, as a special day of prayer for missions. I 
expect to preach on the mission work on that day, and to have 
a prayer-meeting in that interest. 

My throat is slowly gaining strength. I spoke last Sunday 
twice without any serious difificulty. It seems to me Doctor 
Da Costa's treatment has done more for me than anything else 
I have had. My voice is gradually growing stronger, and 
gives promise of complete restoration. I feel thankful to 
God for this among so many other and greater mercies. I have 
some notion of running over to Philadelphia to see Doctor Da 
Costa some time before Christmas. 

My general health is good ; and I feel encouraged in my work. 
We are all settled down at home once more. Ritie and the 
children are in excellent health, and everything moves on in 
quiet and comfort. 

We are thinking of celebrating the 20th anniversary of the 
establishment of St. Mark's in the early part of November. We 
expect to have a Sunday-school celebration on Sunday, Novem- 
ber 14, and a church anniversary address and social gathering 
during the week preceding. In twenty years God has blessed 
the church very greatly, and made it the means of blessing to 
the community here, and to our Lutheran church generally. 
So we wish to celebrate what the Lord has done for us. I wish 
you could be here to join us, in the memory, among other 
things, of father and his work here. 

We are just getting through with the distraction of our great 
Sequi-Centennial Baltimore celebration. It has been a week of 
excitement and show ; the city has been crowded ; all business 



208 THE STORK FAMILY IN THE LUTHERAN CHURCH. 

suspended, and cburcli work crowded out ; and all has been 
gaiety and sight-seeing. I confess for one I have had enough 
and long for quiet. The splendor and shows of the world one 
soon sickens of : they are not satisfying. 



CHAPTER V. 

ELECTION TO GETTYSBURG — POSITION — DEVOTEDNESS TO HIS 
WORK — HESITATION IN DECIDING — REASONS FOR ACCEPTING 
— LETTERS TO FORMER STUDENTS — WISE COUNSELS — LETTERS. 

THE evidences of increasing infirmity and of inability 
to preach were alarmingly plain. There was a va- 
cancy in the Theological Faculty, occasioned by the 
lamented death of the Rev. Dr. Brown, and all eyes 
were turned to Dr. Stork as his successor; and yet the 
question was, could he lecture five or six times a week 
when he could not preach ? He was willing to make the 
trial, and succeeded well for some months. He gave a 
course of lectures on Didactic Theology characterized by 
his intellectual power, his profound yet distinct thinking, 
and thorough aquaintance with the subjects treated. 
His style of lecturing was pleasing, and his pupils are 
enthusiastic in their praises of him as a teacher. The 
man who was not profited by Dr. Stork's instruction 
must have been incapable of appreciatina; every thing 
intellectually refined and elegant. Although he had 
himself sat at the feet of the theological Gamaliels at 
Andover, yet he did not copy their style or mode of teach- 
ing, and pursued methods of his own. As in all other 
things, he never followed the ways of any master. He 
struck out in independent paths, and came to conclusions 
as the result of his own reflection and researches. 
(209) 



210 THE STORK FAMILY IN THE LUTHERAN CHURCH. 

It was a sore trial to leave St. Mark's. For twenty 
years he had served that people faithfully, and though 
sickness more than once interrupted his work for a 
season, the mutual attachment was strong, and the part- 
ing was painful. 

He greatly enjoyed his work as a professor and also 
occasionally preached in the churches of the town and 
elsewhere. His home was delightful, and a generous 
hospitality was dispensed to his friends. 

After the lapse of a year, he writes: "I am glad my 
first year's work is nearly over. It ends June 25th. It 
has been quite hard for me, making lectures on new sub- 
jects. I have been kept too close in my study. But 
the summer vacation will mend that : and next year I 
shall not be pressed so hard. 

"I hope I am doing good here, but I find in doing 
work for the Lord, as in all the Christian life, we must 
walk by faith, not by sight. We cannot see always that 
we are really accomplishing anything. The only way I 
find is to live day by day, being sure that the Lord has 
given us a certain work to do, and then doing it, even 
though we cannot see the fruit. I preached yesterday 
on Mary's words at the feast of Cana, ^ Whatsoever he 
saith unto you, do it.' How simple and beautiful that 
rule is — to take our work from His lips, our particular 
work, whatever it is — and then faithfully and loyally to 
do it just because He says it.* 

* Light ou the Pilgrhn's Way, p. 26. 



REV. CHARLES A. STORK, D. D. 211 



LETTERS TO HIS STEP-MOTHER. 

Baltimore, July 7, 1881. 

I write to you at once on making my decision about Gettys- 
burg. I have just written to the Board of Directors accepting 
the call. I shall be with my church here till October 1, when 
I go to Gettysburg to begin work in the Seminary. 

1 need not tell you that it has been hard to decide. I love the 
pastoral office ; I love my work and people. I dislike the busi- 
ness of teaching I do not believe I shall enjoy my 

new duties and responsibilities as I have those here ; in all re- 
spects it looks forbidding and dreary to me. 

Why then, you will ask — why go? To that my dear 
mother, there is but one answer : I have come to a deep 
conviction that God says to me — go. I have pondered and 
prayed ; for a long time I have foreseen what was coming, 
and I have tried to see the whole situation ; and then I 
prayed over it continually. And the longer I dwelt on it, the 
more I seemed shut up to this one path. And now how 
could I say no ? All my wishes bid me to refuse, and I go with 
only one reason for going — that God would have me go. 

It seems as I look around that there is none else to go. The 
whole church fixes on me. Again and again I have put it away, 
and still the call returns. And so I feel like a soldier who is 
sent out on a hard campaign — every consideration of personal 
comfort and peace urges him to stay at home ; but his duty 
sends him out. 

One of the things that have helped to embarrass me is the re- 
duction of my income involved. I will receive at Gettysburg 
about $400 less a year than I do here. And it does pain me a 
little to think of the pinching process as applied to my wife and 
family. For myself I do not care ; I can live plainer ; but I hate 

to have to put them on short allowance Another 

thing is the change of social relations. We have been a family 
beloved and kindly cared for ; but now we go out to be pretty 

much alone All these things are against me ; but 

we have counted the cost, and are content. 



212 THE STORK FAMILY m THE LUTHERAN CHURCH. 

Do not think we are complaining. We are satisfied to go 
where God sends : but I wanted to tell you just how we felt, 
and give you an insight into our experience. These are things 
we do not speak to outsiders ; but you ought to know all about 
us in so great a change. 

Gettysburg, 1882. 

My health is very good. The throat is quite well 

again. I preached yesterday with good, strong voice, and had 

no trouble It has been quite hard on me preparing 

lectures on a new subject. I have been kept too close in my 
study. But the summer vacation will mend that, and next year 
T shall not be pressed so liard. I hope I am doing good here ; but 
I find, in doing work for the Lord, as in all Christian life, we 
must walk by faith and not by sight. We cannot see always that 
we are really accomplishing anything. The only way is to live 
day by day, being sure that the Lord has given me a certain 
work to do, and then doing it, though we cannot see the fruits. 

I preached yesterday on Mary's words at the feast 

of Cana, "Whatsoever He saith unto you, do it." How simple 
and beautiful that rule is : to take our wo;k from His lips, our 
particular work whatever it is, and then faithfully and loyally 
to do it, just because He says it." 

Gettysburg, January, 1882. 

I have been unusually busy. I have been off to 

preach every Sunday since Christmas, at various places, and 
once at St. Clark's, Baltimore. The people received me very 
cordially indeed ; in fact, I think they are more anxious to hear 
me than they ever were when I was pastor. I enjoyed preach- 
ing to them very much : one person came and said it seemed as 

if every word went right to their souls We are all 

uncommonly well. Gettysburg is a great place for health. I 
have no more headache, and have lost the old tired feeling I 
used to have. The children are pictures of rosy, happy health. 
So you see we have great blessings of our Father, for which we 
cannot praise Him enough. 

■X- * -x- * -x- * * 



' REV. CHARLES A. STORK, D. D. ' 213 

Gettysburg, Feb. 1, 1882. 

Bear Mother : Your kind gift of the furnishing of a room will 
be received very gratefully by all of us who have charge of the 
Seminary. It came just in the right time. A new student en- 
tered this Christmas, and we had only a half-furnished room 
left to give him. He said he was used to roughing it, and did 
not mind ; but the other students had to lend him things from 
their rooms to furnish him out. Now we can give him a room 
comfortably and fully fitted up. 

Your condition that the room shall not be defiled with tobacco 
we can very readily comply with, for one of the rules of the 
Seminary is, that no smoking is allowed in any of the rooms or 
halls of the building ; and all students are required to be cleanly 
in their habits — no spitting about, etc. 

Our students are generally a good class of young men, of good 
habits. Some are devoted Christians, already fitted for a good 
work ; others are careless and untrained yet ; but we are trying 
to teach them what a Christian gentleman should be 

The snow-storm was a beautiful sight — all day it 

came drifting down, and we watched it across the wide land- 
scape — so pure, and gentle and soft it came, it was like a visi- 
tant from heaven. You know snow seems so difterent in the 
city, where it gets dirty as soon as it falls. 

We had a good day on Sunday — Day of Prayer for Colleges. 
I addressed the young men in the college in the morning, 
and then in the evening I spoke again at the union meeting in 
church in town. One feels very much drawn out to these young 
men, who are so soon to be called to the place of trust — oh ! 
that they were all Christ's men. 

LETTER TO REV. DR. BORN, SELINSGROVE, WHO AS TREAS- 
URER OF SYNOD HAD SENT A CONTRIBUTION TO THE 
CONTINGENT FUND OF OUR SEMINARY. 

My Bear Brother Born : Many thanks for your remittance. I 
enclose a receipt for the amount. It was very welcome, for we 
have had extra repairs, and our funds were running sadly short. 
10* 



214 THE STORK FAMILY IN THE LUTHERAN CHURCH. 

I do not think our contingent fund has yielded this year very 
much more than you have received. You are to be congratu- 
lated on having such vrarm and helpful friends. I am glad to 
hear you have been so relieved. 

We have yet a month of work, and the heaviest end of the 
log comes now. We shall send out eight young men this year. 
The most of them have their fields of labor in view ; and, as 
with you, there is always a demand for more preachers than we 
can furnish. I do not think that all our two Institutions can 
send out will more than meet the demand. 

I hope you may be prospered more and more. There is no 
reason why the two schools should not do their work in har- 
mony and brotherly love. The field is bigger than we can fill, 
let us do our best. 

It would be pleasant to meet and have free talk over our com- 
mon work. I hope I may see you soon. 

I have been suffering a good deal with my throat this spring, 
and have been unable to preach much. Happily I can lecture 
without inconvenience. Still trouble in the throat always makes 
us feel depressed, and mine has been weighing on me. 

Yours truly, C. A. Stokk. 

Gettysburg, Pa., May 25th, 1S82. 

I here insert a few letters to several of his students, 
which show his kindness and his tender interest in their 
welfare and their work : 

Gettysbukg, February, 1888. 

Dear Friend : Your letter gives me great pleasure. We had 
all been wondering what you were doing, and how life seemed 
to you now that you had struck out into the wide ocean for 
yourself, and your account of your place and work was very 
gratifying. 

I am glad that you are engaging so heartily in work, and I 
trust you are beginning to find compensation for your labor in 
the work itself. As I read your letter it recalled all my own 
early experience in a half-mission church, with a handful of 
workers, many of them not of a high grade of intelligence or 



REV. CHARLES A. STORK, D. D. 216 

social influence, with all sorts of labor, worries and discourage- 
ments upon me — and yet it was a very blessed life. As I look 
back I seem to myself never to have rightly appreciated the 
privilege given me to be a worker with God upon men. Now that 
I am cut off so much from activity, I see that the trials, perplex- 
ities and interests that once appeared quite burdensome, were a 
real gift of God, 

I have passed through a winter of great deal of physical weak- 
ness ; my throat has been very troublesome, and is at present 
quite sore. 1 have not been able to do more than half my work, 
and now the doctor has ordered me to milder air. [This order 
was afterwards recalled. — J. G. M.] 

I am sorry not to have been able to write more for the Observer, 
but my illness has made it hard for me to write. When I get 

away I will try to do more I would suggest that you 

try to get your people to do something for missions. If possible, 
organize in the Sunday-school a band or society for foreign mis- 
sions. It will help the church, and be a blessing to the young. 

Baltimore, March 30, 1883, 

I shall x>robably be here till the latter part of 

April, when I hope to be able to return to Gettysburg. The 
summer I hope to spend in the White Mountains, and altogether 
my expectation is to be able for work in the fall, though at one 
time it seemed as if I must give up all hope of resuming my 
work in the Seminary. 

I shall always maintain that no work gives such a pure plea- 
sure as that of the pastor. I have tried a variety of things, but 
nothing equals the experience I had when in the vigorous per- 
formance of my duty as preacher and pastor. 

You have taken a good step in organizing your missionary 
society in connection with the school. It will be a school of 
Christian training to the young, to yourself, and a blessing to 
the church. I shall take what you say about it to make a note 
for the Missionary Journal, ■}«•**** 



216 THE STORK FAMILY IN THE LUTHERAN CHURCH. 

I understand how it is that the water sometimes runs low, or 
that the fountain of knowledge is occasionally exhausted. A per- 
manent and full supply comes only from continuous and exten- 
sive reading, together with meditation. My experience is that 
everything turns to material for preaching when a man is bent 
on his work. I used to get sermons, or matter for them, illus- 
trations, etc., from novels, daily news, and all kinds of study ; 
but there are special books which stimulate sermonizing, just as 
certain kinds of food go to milk in asjhnals. Such books as 
Farrar's Life of Christ, his work on St. Paul ; Geikie's Life and 
Work of Jesus ; Conybeare and Ilowson's Life and Epistles 
of Paul, i have found very fruitful ; sermons too of the sugges- 
tive order, as those of Moseley, Brooks, Maclaren of Manches- 
ter, England, Bushnell, and the like. 



You must find time to study and read. The secret of the dry- 
ing up we see in the lives of some very good ministers, is the 
failure to feed their minds with new thought by study and read- 
ing. A library into which there go no new books is one from 
which come out sermons with no fresh thoughts. 

July 7, 1883. 

I wish I could give a better account of my health. I have 
been slowly improving .... but the improvement is very slow, 
and with many discouraging relapses ; but God has given me 
twenty years of activity in his service — now, if he calls me to 
suffer and wait, I am satisfied. 

The physicians have forbidden me to lecture or use my voice 
at all next winter. The Board have given me furlough for a 
year, in which time I hope to regain my usual strength. 

July, 1883. 
I regret to hear you had so many things to embarrass and an- 
noy you in your work ; but it is often so in the beginning. What 
you say of the discouragements that meet you reminds me of 
my early experience in the ministry ; often I felt as if I could 
not bear the burden much longer. But God held me up and led 



REV. CHARLES A. STORK, D. D. 217 

me on, and the lions I found in the way were chained. Perhaps 
you do not see such fruit of your labor as you could wish. You 
seem to toil long, and sometimes achieve nothing. Well, you 
must have faith in God, and hold on. ' We are often building 
better than we know, and the accomplished result comes at last 
when we least expect it. 

You must remember, too, that God has you in training ; you 
are learning how to endure hardship as a good soldier of Jesus 
Christ, and you are being made capable of greater work by your 
hard experience now. An old minister told me ouce when in 
my youth I was depressed by having so little success, that I was 
having as much success as God saw was good for me to have. 

I wish I could help you; but though you have a sea of trouble 
to struggle through now, I know it will come out well with 
you. 

Your account of the state of things where you 

are at work is encouraging. You have a good opening, a field 
for work, the sense that you have been sent of God to this work ; 
your weapons are newly sharpened and burnished — and now 
what- more can a man want ? 

I hope you are enjoying your work. You ought to. I say 
this with something of a sorrowful recollection of how little I 
myself enjoyed the first year of my ministry. I worked against 
the grain for some years, feeling that I was called of God, that 
there was nothing else for me to do in the world, and trying 
with all my might to do my work in the best way, and yet con- 
scious that I was not hitting the nail on the head at all. At 
last 1 worked out into the clear, and then the ministry was a 
continual field of delight. Perhaps my long apprenticeship 
when I fumbled about and botched everything, was one reason 
why I learned to preach as well as I did ; above all, perhaps, it 
was what trained me to be a teacher of other preachers. There 
is no bungling that I cannot sympathize with, having been such 
a bungler myself. 

I follow with deep interest and sympathy you young brethren 
who have gone forth. I shall count your success as a part of 
my reward. Nothing could give me more pleasure than such 



218 THE STORK FAMILY IN THE LUTHERAN CHURCH. 

kind words as yours, with respect to the help I have been per- 
mitted to be to you. The whole business of religion, with all its 
necessary parts of theology, creeds, etc., is to me so vital a thing 
that I cannot bear to treat it in a merely scholastic way. It is 
a reality, or it is nothing. 

Gettysburg, January 10, 1883. 

Your letter gave me much pleasure. I rejoice with you in 
the fruits of your work. It makes me glad to hear that you are 
really feeling the reality of the work, and I can un- 
derstand the sense of humbling that comes with the answer of 
your labor. There is a humility that springs out of success as 
well as from failure. We wonder who we jare, that such fruit 
should come from our tilling. 

As to difficulties, I am afraid that the trouble is not one to be 
cured by more light. 

Let us look at the three first cases you mention. The one 
who is trying to make himself better — the one who has doubts 
about inspiration — and the one who thinks Christ only a man. 
All are unconsciously hiding themselves behind false defences. 
The real difficulty is not what they aver, but an indisposition of 
the will to obey and submit. They flatter themselves, probably, 
that if these particular objections were removed they would be 
ready to be Christians — but that is a delusion. The way to 
deal with them is to demolish the objections, and then show 
them that with the objections removed, they are still unwilling. 
Often these are the hardest to convince. I would urge on them 
that the trouble is "they icill not," and point out to them 
Christ's way of clearing up doubts, that he that does the will of 
God shall know of the doctrine — that obedience is the way to 
knowledge in religious things, and not knowledge the way to 
obedience. 

As to the fourth question about the heathen, I should say, 
"What is that to thee?" Every such case must be decided on 
its own merits. If the woman lived up to her light she is ac- 
quitted ; but who can tell what light she had, and if she followed 
it ? None but the omniscient God. Hence the absolute need 
pf an individual judgment by the omniscient Son of God who is 



REV. CHARLES A. STORK, D. D. 219 

also the sympathetic son of man. It comes at last to this : 
Should not the judge of all the earth do right? Yes certainly he 
will, but what is right in one individual case depends on the cir- 
cumstances of the case. One woman may be doing right to 
give her child to death according to her light, and the next be 
doing wrong ; but who shall weigh all the life with its modi- 
fying circumstances but the Omniscient, All-loving? In any 
case we have nothing to do with it, and the question if seriously 
urged evidences a deei) frivolity and spiritual impudence. The 
only answer ib Christ's to Peter, "What is that to thee? follow 
thou me." ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ 

After giving his young friend direction how to act in 
a church case of no general interest, Dr. Stork proceeds: 

I see you have difficulties, and I do not wonder that they 
annoy you. Often we fret under these perplexing affairs. We 
want to finish up as we go, to leave no unravelled skeins behind 
us ; but a part of our trial is that we must leave much unfinished, 
wrongs unrighted, errors uncorrected, deluded souls going 
deeper into the dark. It is one of the terrible burdens of life 
that nothing is perfect ; so much is irremediable. 

My refuge has been to take it all to God. I do my best, and 
then I can leave it to Him. I am willing to be accounted in- 
consistent, to have failed, to leave knots and tangles behind me 
unsolved, if I can only keep close to my Master and do faith- 
fully my best to get things straight and make men right. How 
much He had to leave behind ; how many sighs He heaved over 
the stubborn, the stupid, the incorrigible, whom even He could 
not reach. We must leave our unfinished or marred work be- 
hind and press on — there is much to do — we shall not get through 
work until life ends. 

EXTRACTS FROM OCCASIONAL LETTERS. 

TO DR. HAY. 

Baltimore, 1883. 
I am glad to be able to say that the improvement in my throat 
still continues. I am desirous of going back to Gettysburg . , 



220 THE STORK FAMILY IN THE LUTHERAN CHURCH. 

but the doctor still detains me. If I continue to improve stead- 
ily tlirough April, I hope to he at home in May. 

Miss Boggs arrived in this city from England last Wednesday. 
She is in better health than when she left India, though still 
weak. 
* * * * * * * * -x- 

I wish I could furnish you with some good subjects for theses. 
I will venture a few : 

The three stages of missionary work : 1. Breaking the ground. 
2. The cooperative stage. 3. The stage of self-support and inde- 
pendence. 

The relation of the Renaissance to the Reformation. 

Reformers before the Reformation. 

The modern doctrine of Christian perfection. 

Jewish and heathen conceptions of a future state.- 

Feuelon as a devotional writer. 

The place of Origen in theolgy. 

The duration of the state of probation. 

The relation of bishop, presbyter, and deacon in the primitive 
church. — This is treated by Hatch in his Bampton Lectures. 

Original sin as a mysterious truth. 

The theology of Chemnitz. 

The place of the Lutheran Church in the religious life of 
America. 

The use of un fermented wine in the Eucharist. 

TO DR. HAY. 

Baltimore, April 21, 1883. 
I am glad to say that I am greatly improved, and growing in 
strength every day. I can talk without difficulty, but the doctor 
does not weary in urging upon me that lam not to use my throat 
in the way of any effort this spring or summer. It is a hard 
precept when one feels so well, but I am preparing myself to 

obey V I expect to be in Gettysburg by May 15th, so 

that I can superintend matters during your absence (at the Gen^ 
eral Synod). 



REV. CHARLES A. STORK, D. D. 221 

TO HIS MOTHER. 

Gettysburg, May, 1883. 

Dear Mother : I have settled down again at Gettysburg. The 
doctor thought the fresh, pure ah- here would be better for me 
than the close atmosphere of the city, even though I might not 

have so much of his treatment My throat improves 

slowly, but very slowly. I am having a thorough lesson in pa- 
tience. I think sometimes I have had enough, but the Master 
says, "No, you must go over the old lesson again." I have been 
wondering how those who have no assured trust that God does 
all well, and that he steers the ship, can keep from falling into 
despair. 

You will be gratified to see that all the missionary enterprises 
of the Church have been advancing in a very encouraging way. 
The income of the Foreign Board for the last two years ($50,000) 
is greater by $15,000 than in any preceding two years of our 
history. I do think there is an awakening of the Church to the 
call of God. 

The season though late is wonderfully beautiful here. I never 
saw Gettysburg looking so lovely. We have been having a suc- 
cession of the most charming days, when everything in earth 
and sky seemed perfect. As I walked through the fields I could 
only praise God for the view He gave of His wonderful beauty 
' — all the beauty and purity seemed a reflection of His own ex- 
ceeding loveliness and perfection. I think sometimes we do not 
dwell enough on the beauty and sweetness of what He does give 
us, and let our hearts go out in praise and delight in Him, the 
infinitely beautiful and good. We have so much sorrow and 
pain, and we see so much that is dark and sinful, that often we 
let the shadow of these miserable things come over what does 
reveal the beauty and goodness of God's works. I reproach my- 
self often, since my weakness and sickness have been so heavy 
on me, that I do not praise God more for the sunshine He pours 
so abundantly on me in it all. 

I wish you could be here to enjoy the season with us. The 



222 THE STORK FAMILY IN THE LUTHERAN CHURCH. 

roses are blooming generously this morning, and all the fields 
are spread out green and fresh and inviting. 

TO THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS OF THE THEOLOGICAL SEMI- 
NARY OF THE GENERAL SYNOD. 

Brethren : It is proper that I should ask the attention of the 
Board to some matters respecting my official relation to them. 

It is known to all that for the last few months of the scholas- 
tic year I was unable from illness to attend to my duties in the 
Seminary. These duties were assumed by Professors Hay and 
Wolf, imposing on them much additional labor. For this labor 
it seems just that they should be compensated. If the Board is 
able to make such compensation it would be gratifying to them 
and myself. If no provision can be made otherwise, I shall 
deem it incumbent on myself to provide such compensation. 

It is also due to the Board that they should be informed of 
my physical inability to undertake any duties involving the use 
of my throat next autumn and winter. 

My physicians, skillful specialists of Baltimore and Phila- 
delphia, have warned me, while I may in all probability recover 
the use of my voice by prolonged rest, that any use of my throat 
next autumn and winter will be in the highest degree hazardous, 
and have absolutely forbidden it. 

It is absolutely necessary, therefore, that I rest for the greater 
part of the next year. In view of tliese circumstances I have to 
propose to the Board that exemption from duty be granted me 
for so much of the next year as may be necessary to my restora- 
tion to health. Also that arrangements be made with the rest 
of the faculty or others to take my work, the compensation for 
that work to be provided for out of my salary. 

This, or some such arrangement, I should prefer. But I am 
aware that it may not be the course most conducive to the wel- 
fare of the Institution. If it should seem desirable to fill the 
place permanently at once, I would therefore cheerfully tender 
my resignation as Professor of Didactic Theology, feeling it to 



REV. CHARLES A. STORK, D. D. 223 

be but just and riglit that my own preference should not stand 
for a moment in the way of the best interests of the Seminary. 

Chas. a. Stork, 
Prof, of Didactic Tlieology and Homiletics. 
Gettysburg, June 26, 1883. 

TO DR. HAY. 

Andoyer, July 23, 1883. 
I have had a painful attack of sciatica since com- 
ing here ; it is, however, yielding to treatment. My throat is 

better I had purposed going off to the mountains or 

the sea shore, but the sciatica has kept me home. I shall not 
leave Andover till I am much better. The doctor tells me that 
all these attacks of neuralgia, sciatica, and the like, are due to 
the general debility of my system. I am glad, however, that 
the throat seems no worse. 

Dr. Park (of Andover Seminary) met me the other day, and 
bewailed the sad condition of orthodoxy in the Seminary here. 
He thinks Dorner is to be blamed for the lapse from the faith of 
the younger Congregational ministers. He asked my opinion 
of Doruer, and also that I would give him reviews of Dorner in 
the German theological journals. 



CHAPTER VI. 

LEAVES GETTYSBURG — GERMAN HOSPITAL — SURGICAL OPERA- 
TION — SUFFERING — LETTERS. 

I3UT, to the profound grief of all his friends, the 
JJ students and directors of the Seminary and of the 
Church, he was compelled to abandon his work altogether, 
and after most acceptably serving the Seminary for about 
two years, he left Gettysburg — never to return. He re- 
paired to Baltimore, where he passed the winter under 
medical treatment. The subsequent summer he spent in 
Andover, Mass., and went to Philadelphia in September, 
intending to sojourn during the winter at Lakewood, N.J. 
On arriving in Philadelphia, however, dangerous symp- 
toms developed themselves, and his physician directed 
his removal to the Pennsylvania Hospital, where a sur- 
geon could be within immediate call at all times. He 
remained there but a few weeks, and was then removed 
to the German Hospital, where he was subjected to 
the severe operation of tracheotomy, by which his larynx 
was severed, and a silver tube inserted, to enable him to 
breathe. He was in this critical and painful condition for 
more than two months, with varying indications of im- 
provement and relapse. Although his body gradually 
became weaker, his mind was bright and active, and he 
occupied himself with reading, and also with writing to 
some extent within a few days of his death. 

(224) 



225 

During this period of suffering and anxiety, his letters 
are not despondent, although full of the tenderest emo- 
tion. In one he says, "I feel in myself a greater desire 
to communicate good — a greater richness of thought and 
experience to communicate — and then to lie still, to be 
shut up in silence, is a hard trial. But God knows best. 
When I feel restive, impatient, weary, despondent, I just 
fold my hands and say over those words of Jesus, ' Thy 
will be done,' till I feel how blessed that will is, and all 
the waves of strife in me go down, and a heavenly peace 
comes in. I was reading yesterday the words of Adolph 
Monod, repeated so often in the last months of his life, 
when he was suffering so much, *The crucified life is the 
blessed life.' " 

Again he writes," My throat improves slowly, but very 
slowly. I am having a thorough lesson in patience. I 
think sometimes I have had enough, but the Master says, 
' No, you must go over the old lesson again.' * * * * j 
reproach myself often, since my weakness and sickness 
have been so heavy upon me, that I do not praise God 
more for the sunshine he pours so abundantly on me in 
it all."* 

TO DR. HAY. 

Andover, August 7, 1883. 

...... As to myself, I am not getting on as fast as I 

could wish. My general health improves slowly, but the throat 

makes little progress. It is a discouraging business, but I try 

to make the best of it. 
********* 

I shall probably remain here until the cold weather sets in ; 
* Light on the Pilgrim's Way, page 27. 



226 THE STORK FAMILY IN THE LUTHERAN CHURCH. 

then I must seek a warmer climate, but where to go I am in 
doubt. On the whole, California seems to promise the best, 
but I dread the long journey, so I put off the decision until the 
time of departure comes. 

Andover, Aug. 25, 1883. 

My Dear Dr. Hay : I have just received a copy of a Washing- 
ton paper giving an account of the Farewell Missionary Meet- 
ing. I am glad to see you were able to be there. It must have 
been a very interesting occasion. But what a muss the reporters 
make of it ! I see they make Unangst say there are 250,000,000 
people in India, about three times as many as there really are, and 
that they (our missionaries) have divided these into 120 congre- 
gations, that is, over 2, 000, 000 to a congregation ; thus it might 
be seen how universal was their field. And yet we go on be- 
lieving the papers. 

The weather has been delightful, and I think I have been im- 
proving somewhat. My general health is good, and the throat 
seems less inflamed and irritable. 

I am still thinking of California, though I dread the distance. 
I have got over all my desire to travel ; all the scenery and nov- 
elty of new lands would not tempt me a hundred miles from 
home. But health makes a man put up with all sorts of things. 

TO DR. HAY. 

Andover, Sept. 4, 1883. 

I had a letter from Dr. Radebaugh, which rather 

discouraged me from going to California. He is very full and 
careful in his statement, but I gathered that, on the whole, the 
good to be derived was very doubtful in my case. Some are 
benefited and some are not. I am beginning to incline towards 
Nassau, in the West Indies. 

TO DR. HAY. 

Andover, Sept. 15, 1883. 

^ I am not so well as I was. My throat has given 

me a good deal of trouble. It is slow business, and nothing will 
help but patient waiting. 



REV. CHARLES A. STORK, D. D. 22T 

Lakewood, Ocean Co., N. J., Sept. 29, 1883. 

Dear Brother Hay : I am sorry I cannot be at Synod ; but the 
doctor (Cohen, of Philadelphia) wants me steadily under his 
treatment. Besides, the excitement and fatigue of Synod would 
be too much for me. 

I found I was not improving in Andover, so I came on here 
last Monday, and put myself under Cohen's treatment. Cohen 
is a celebrated throat expert of Philadelphia ; he promises to 
get me all right, and has sent me to this place, a resort for throat 
and lung cases, in the pine woods of New Jersey. I have not 
much hope that it will do any good ; but, as you remarked once, 
a man will try everything and anything for a chance of health. 
I have not much pain, and I am pretty strong, but I suffer from 
great shortness of breath and a wearying cough. 

Do not think I am melancholy. I think I have learned, or 
am learning, in whatsoever state I am therewith to be content. 
Of course pain and weakness are not pleasant companions, and 
I often groan under them, but I think I have an inward peace 
that bears me up. As God takes our pleasant things away. He 
gives us what is better, His peace. One thing long sickness and 
weakness does for us, it takes us down into the valley of humil- 
ity, and it does this so gently that we are not mortified or cov- 
ered with shame, but only made to feel what we truly are, our 
weakness and emptiness, and the great, blessed fullness and rich- 
ness of God. 

But I don't know why I am preaching to you, unless it is that 
you are a very dear and intimate friend, and I speak right out 
to you what is uppermost in my mind. 

Many thanks for your last kind and genial letter. I hope all 
is well with you and yours. Remember me to the brethren. 
When you get that check cashed I wish you would ask if Mr. I. 
A. H. Becker is in town, and if he is going away. He is in the 
firm of Gitting & Co. 

Yours fraternally, C. A. Stokk. 



228 THE STORK FAMILY IN THE LUTHERAN CHURCH. 

TO DR. HAY. 
German Hospital, Phila., Oct. 6, 1883. 

I am something better {i. e. than for a few days 

past). I am still in bed. Dr. Cohen talks of operating on my 
throat — tracheotomy. 



LETTER TO A FRIEND. 

Philadelphia, October, 1883. 

My Dear .• Your letter was a very pleasant surprise. 

It is doubly pleasant in the dark day to be reminded that we are 
loved, and that we have done something for others that still 
abides as a blessing. For, indeed, as I have been lying here 
helpless, suffering — absorbed in the hottest pain — it has seemed 
as though all my first life had shriveled up, and nothing was 
left of it but a blank memory. It has seemed to me as though 
I had done so little, and was nothing. Well, the last is true 
enough ; we ever feel nothing in the grasp of pain and long 
weakness. 

I have been trying all through to seem brave and cheerful, 
but I can hardly say tli at I have been really so. ' ' No affliction 
for the present is joyous," and when Grod chastens us, there is 
no escaping the pain ; He does not mean that we should. I have 
been greatly tried in my patience, and sometimes the waves and 
billows have gone over my soul, and seemed to doom it. But 

God has kept me Everybody has been very kind, and 

I am humbled to receive so many expressions of love. Surely 
God has given me many warm friends. 

I do rejoice in your sympathy and kindness. It is 

something to know that God has permitted me to be of real ser- 
vice to one of His children. 

Yours truly, C. A. Stork. 

TO DR. HAY. 

German Hospital, Phila., October 18, 1883. 

I am slowly getting better, though still weak. 

The great relief is to my breathing. I was slowly suffocating. 



HEV. CHARLES A. STORK, D. D. 229 

Now, I eat well, grow stronger, walk about a little, and suffer 
only from sleeplessness which is due to the irritation of the 
wound. My many friends have been very kind, and God has in- 
deed been good to ms. I rejoice to hear of the prosperity of the 
Seminary. 

I thought I could stand a good deal, but that operation was 
very severe. Twenty-five minutes under the knife witli no 
anaesthetic tries one's nerves — and then the coughing and eating 
with that wound filled with a silver tube, I have just braced 
myself for a week to endure. But the worst is over. Now I have 
little pain. * ***** 

TO DOCTOR HAY. 

German Hospital, November 3, 1883. 

I am still in the hospital. I get up about 10 

a. m., and stay up till bed-time. I walk or ride out a little and 
try to pass away the time as best I can ; but as I can neither 
write nor study much, I am often quite weary, especially to- 
wards the end of the afternoon. I grow tired, and the whole 
system becomes irritated ; my cough increases and I have no 
rest till sleep comes late in the night. 

The Doctor thinks I improve slowly, but I cannot feel any 
great progress. The wound has healed well, but the old cough 
is very irritating, and I cannot talk above a whisper. I do not 

see where the end will be I rest upon God day by 

day, and He gives me grace to go through each day, but none to 
spare. 

Dr. Mann called on me yesterday : he was very kind. Also 
Dr. Conrad, who gave me a glowing account of his doings in 
the Luther celebration, and of his visit next week to Chicago, 

also of what he is writing Whilst he sat before me 

gesticulating and full of excitement, I thought, if I could have 
a little of that superabundant energy ! * * * * 

German Hospital, November 27, 1883. 
Dear Doctor Hay : I am rejoiced to hear that all goes on so 
well on the hill. A new spirit for missions seems to be kindled 
in the students. I hope it may not be confined to the few who 
11 



230 THE STORK FAMILY IN THE LUTHERAN CHURCH. 

think of going to foreign lands, but that the leaven may leaven 
the whole lump. 

Is it not a little singular that, while we feel the deepest inter- 
est in the heathen in their own lands, yet when they come here 
we begin to be suspicious of them ? Here is this Armenian ;* 
if we had letters of him or from him in his own land, we should 
feel draw n to him ; but now he is here, and we really come in 
contact with him, we are shy of him. The fact is, the vice of 
deceit and dishonesty is so deeply ingrained into the minds of 
men that it seems almost impossible to root it out, and so when 
we fairly meet one of these men, we feel we must be on our 
guard. I do not for my part much believe in these converted 
heathens coming to America to get an education. Their place 
is at liome, among their own people, doing what they can to 
make Christ known. "We do not send the Gospel to Asia to 
have the Asiatics come over to America to learn our ways and 
get half Americanized, and so unfitted for work in Asia. The 
work of Christ is not to make Hindoos and Turks into Ameri- 
cans, but to leaven their style of civilization with Christianity. 
So I am shy of all those converts who want to be converted not 
only from heathenism but also from their nationality, and be- 
come a sort of mongrel Americo-Oriental. Let every man abide 
in his lot where God hath called him. I am afraid I shall have 
less patience with the Armenian than you. 

I have seen of the celebration at Hartwick in the papers. It 
must have been a very stirring occasion. What a great waking 
among the churches this Luther year has occasioned. I have 
not been able to take part in any of these great celebrations, 
but I have looked on with the deepest interest. 

My health does not improve much. I am still weak, and the 
throat is very sore and feeble. I think my Doctor gets dis- 
couraged at times ; but we hope for the best . I suffer no great 
pain ; but weakness is often worse than pain, and my irritation 
from the throat is very exhausting. I am learning some new 
and deep lessons in this school of suffering. 

Yours truly, C. A. Stork. 

* An Armenian had come to Gettysburg Seminary to study theology, 
"but I believe he intended to return to his own country.— J. G. M, 



REV. CHARLES A. STORK, D. D. 231 

German Hospital, December, 1883. 

My Dear Brother H.: It was a good long letter you sent me, 
and I am really ashamed to send such a scrap in return. Your 
picture of me as being overrun with letters of condolence and 
sympathy was a little overdrawn. I have a great many friends 
and many expressions of their regret and remembrance, but 
they have not overburdened me with letters. 

Yours was a very cheering and pleasant letter. It did me 
good. As for my health, it does not improve as I had hoped. 
I drag out weary days and long though not uncomfortable 
nights. What a trying thing it is to look day after day for 
health, and not see it come any nearer ! But I try to bear up 
patiently. JNIy great trouble is shortness of breath arising fix)m 
weakness. And for weakness you know it is hard to find a 
remedy. 

Of the great Luther meeting in Baltimore I read several ac- 
counts in newspapers and letters. You surely had a grand fes- 
tival. It has been a great Luther year, only I fear the people 
will get surfeited with him and wish to hear no more of him. 

I spend my time reading, and writing a little, though of this 
last the Doctor will not allow much. I do not study, I am too 
weak for that, but I read all the light and easy matter I can get. 
Still even of reading I do very little. I sleep a good deal, but 
my rest is much broken and I have to take two hours to get one 
hour of solid rest. But I think when you are sick you do not 
care for occupation. I know I sit and half dream, half think, 
for hours. I seem so unlike my old self — then I w-as always 
working at something, now I only want to be quiet and let my 
mind wander over the thoughts of all God has done for me and is 
doing in His kingdom. Sometimes he sends me very precious 
and delightful thoughts. Like David, I commune with Him in 
my thoughts in the night-watches. My bed is now my closet, 
my Mount Tabor where I pray and renew my strength. 

Mrs. Stork keeps well and strong. She is a great cheer and 
comfort to me, as well as a most tender and efficient nurse. I 
have my friends here in Philadelphia who are kind and atten- 
tive. They call on me and give me the news and cheer me up. 

The children are under good care, and are well and happy. 



232 THE STORK FAMILY IN THE LUTHERAN CHURCH. 

So you see I have notliing to worry me, nothing outside of this 
miserable broken body. I only wisli I could forget it, be more 
strong to disregard it ; but there, I cannot, it will drag me down. 
Yours truly, C. A. Stork. 

LETTER FROiM A FRIEND. 

I happened to be in Philadelphia only a few days after the 
operation had been performed upon his windpipe. I went to 
the German Hospital and asked permission to see him. The 
attendant physicians below told me how remarkably well the 
Doctor endured the operation, refusing an anaesthetic, and yet 
never wincing under the operation. They said he showed more 
will-power than any patient that ever came under their treat- 
ment. Shortly after this I was taken up stairs and admitted to 
the sick man's chamber. I found him sitting on a large arm- 
chair by an open window. He greeted me with a pleasant 
smile, and a cordial shake by the hand. After an interchange 
of a few words, I remarked that I was surprised to learn how 
wonderfully well he endured the severe operation. . He looked 
at me thoughtfully and seriously, and then lifting up his right 
arm, and with a serene smile on his face, his eyes beaming with 
love, he pointed with his forefinger heavenward ; thus indicating 
the source of his strength and endurance. If I were an artist, I 
should aim to paint that scene ; it is a precious and abiding pic- 
ture on my mind and heart. 



CHAPTER YII. 

DEATH — FUNERAL SERVICES -ADDRESSES — DR. HAY, DR. BUT- 
LER, DR. CONRAD — VARIOUS RELIGIOUS PAPERS— EULOGIES — 
COMMEMORATIVE RESOLUTIONS — SEMINARY — THEOLOGICAL 
FACUI-TY— CHURCH BOARDS — DR. MARK HOPKINS — DR. MAGEE 
— PRESIDENT GARFIELD — DR. VALENTINE — DR. WOLF — DR. 
BARCLAY — HIS FUGITIVE WRITINGS — TRIBUTES FROM STU- 
DENTS. 

REV. CHARLES A. STORK, D. D., died on Mon- 
day morning, December 17, 1883. For a good por- 
tion of the following account of the funeral services, I am 
indebted to the Lutheran Observer. 

THE OBSEQUIES OF DOCTOR STORK. 

The funeral services of the late Dr. Charles A. Stork, 
of the Theological Seminary at Gettj^sburg, took place 
on Thursday afternoon, December 20, 1883, at St. Mat- 
thew's church. Broad and Mt. Vernon streets. Rev. Dr. 
W. M. Baum, pastor, who conducted the services of the 
sad occasion. Rev. Dr. J. G. Morris, of Baltimore, read 
the Scripture lessons ; Rev. Charles S. Albert, of Balti- 
more, offered prayer, and Charles Wesley's hymn — 
" Jesus, lover of my soul" — was sung by the congregation. 

Dr. Baum then made in substance the following re- 
marks : 

The services of this sad occasion have been arranged with as 
little show or ostentation as possible. Studied eulogy, however 
deserved, will not be attempted. His life was the best eulogy 

(233) 



234 THE STORK FAMILY IN THE LUTHERAN CHURCH. 

possible. As he lived so he died, rendering loving service to his 
Lord and Master, vrorking with his vigorous pen, when his 
feeble voice could no longer be heard. It is a circumstance that 
deserves mention that in this particular his end was similar to 
that of his father— their last articles appearing after death. 
His father's was on St. Paul's declaration : "I am now ready to 
be oflered, and the time of my departure is at hand" — and how 
soon he departed ! The last article of the son was "The Secret 
of Christmas," To come near and see Jesus. How perfectly now 
he understands that secret ! Fable tells us that the dying notes 
of the swan are the sweetest : faith more truly thus works its 
grand consummation. How he served the Lord Jesus by serv- 
ing the church, as pastor, as teacher, as theological professor, as 
member of Church Boards of Education and Missions, others will 
attest. He was ever diligently occupied and rendered useful 
service. Into his short life how much was crowded — not years 
but deeds are the true measure of life. Among the truths illus- 
trated by his life are the value and beauty of personal godliness. 
There is a divine and a human aspect to our religious life. It is 
not always harmoniously developed, but here it was: grace, 
education and self- culture developed a lovely character — firm, 
yet not severe ; loving, yet not weak ; tender in all relations, 
yet justifying no wrong ; fulfilling all the obligations of human 
life. There was no seeking, scheming, planning, in seeking a 
field for work. He was content with what was, and accepted 
God's ordering. With capacity for the highest, he despised not 
the lowest. In that lay the secret of his contentment and use- 
fulness. 

Rev. Dr. C. A. Hay, senior member of the Theological 
Faculty at Gettysburg, then uttered the following touch- 
ing words: 

Alas for thee, my brother ! No ; not for thee, but for us who 
have lost thee ! Thy troubles are over — ours is the sorrow now. 
And it is no common sorrow. 

My dear friends, we it is who need consolation in this hour of 
sad bereavement. We keenly feel our loss ; but we know that 



REV. CHARLES A. STORK, D. D. 235 

we shall feel it all the more when we come to realize it better, 
as we go to our homes and resume our daily duties and miss 
that genial face and gentle voice, and patient, quiet spirit, that 
had won its way to our hearts. 

We stand perplexed and confounded in the presence of such a 
dispensation of Providence. The early removal of one so highly 
gifted and so admirably fitted for the discharge of the responsi- 
ble duties to which the Church had summoned him, startles us 
and tries our faith. We need to pray for a spirit of submission, 
and for an unwavering confidence in the wisdom and kindness 
of all our Heavenly Father's "Ways. His ways are not as ours, 
nor His thoughts as ours. 

O what the pulpit of our church has lost in the death of this 
dear brother ! How fresh, how stimulating and suggestive 
were his expositions of divine truth ? How eagerly his hearers 
hung upon his earnest and impressive appeals ! We do not 
wonder that under such ministrations his church steadily and 
rapidly advanced in all that constitutes true growth in action, 
intelligent and efficient piety. 

His brief career in the Theological Seminary proved him none 
the less fitted for the professor's chair than for the pulpit. 
Entering with enthusiasm upon his work in that sphere, with a 
profound estimate of its great responsibility and grand oppor- 
tunities, he devoted himself to it with characteristic zeal and 
energy, quickly imparting to his pupils a measure of the same 
ardor and keen relish for its sublime themes, and urging them 
on to independent research in that field. Men love to follow 
such a leader. They catch his spirit and are borne forward un- 
der its influence. No wonder that all connected with our insti- 
tution bitterly bewail his loss. 

And the affectionate family circle ! Kearer still to you, dear 
friends, comes this sad and sudden blow. Hoping to the last 
that the insidious disease, that had so long interfered with his 
pulpit and class-room duties, would yield to skillful treatment, 
and that his weakened constitution could be restored to its 
wonted vigor, you have after all been called upon to bid him 
farewell for a season. Dear friends, it is only for a little while. 



236 THE STORK FAMILY IN THE LUTHERAN CHURCH. 

That voice is not silenced forever. Those rigid features will yet 
again be wreathed in smiles, the smiles of heavenly recognition. 
"Be not afraid, only believe." 
Farewell, my brother, till we meet again ! 

Topladj's hymn — '^ Rock of Ages, cleft forme" — was 
sung, after which Rev. Dr. J. G. Butler, of Washington, 
who was associated with Dr. Stork in the Board of For- 
eign Missions for a number of years, bore his testimony 
to the high character and unselfish devotion which he 
had always manifested in the work of his Master. Among 
other things, he said : 

I shall probably never forget that sweet, guileless, peaceful 
smile that lighted up this face now quiet in death, when a few 
weeks since, after a word of prayer at the bedside of our dear 
brother, I said good-bye. The legend says that when our Lord 
was bearing his own cross to Calvary, a Jewish maiden, touched 
with sympathy, wiped the sweat from his brow with a napkin, 
and that he left the impress of his face upon that napkin. This 
service to-day marks the earthly end of one of our Lord's bur- 
den-bearers, upon whom Christ has left His image. 

"Burdens when they weigh severely, 

Stamp the Saviour's image clearly 

On the heart of all His friends." 

The smile that beautified this face was the product of years 
of labor and suffering for Christ. From a child he had loved 
the Saviour, and that which beautified his character was Christ 
in him, the hope of glory. The pen of inspiration writes, Moses, 
the servant of the Lord, and Paul, the servant of Jesus Christ. 
To-day we write, Charles, the servant of God, as expressing the 
fullness of our dear brother's character and life. His lips and 
his heart, now silent, would rebuke eulogy to-day. He would 
write himself a sinner saved by grace. And yet, associated with 
him as I have been, intimately, during all his ministry, loving 
him as few men can be loved, for his unselfish goodness, whilst 



REV. CHARLES A. STORK, D. D. 237 

my heart is stunned by this providence, I am glad to mingle in 
this love-service. He rests, whilst we are yet among the burden- 
bearers, with the responsibilities of Christian ministries upon 
us. This well-rounded life, though it add another broken col- 
umn, is full of inspiration to those who remain. How mysterious 
the providence ! "I was dumb ; I opened not my mouth ; be- 
cause Thou didst it." Brethren, God reigns. Clouds and dark- 
ness are around about Him. Justice and judgment are the 
habitation of His throne. Even so. Father, for so it seemed good 
in thy sight. 

Called by the church to the high position of training young 
men for the ministry, because of his preeminent fitness, upon 
whom shall his mantle fall ? It was not simply knowledge and 
intellectual culture that qualified him to mould the future teach- 
ers and pastors of the church. These are important, but it is 
the man behind the teacher and preacher that gives power to his 
life. This man of God, imbued with the humanity and meek- 
ness and gentleness and self-sacrifice of the Gospel, gave inspi- 
ration to every man who sat at his feet. The need of the pulpit 
to-day and every day is men fully imbued with the Spirit of 
Christ, and wholly consecrated to the work of saving men. For 
that he lived. 

Though full of sorrow to-day, we will not say, Alas ! my 
brother ! Shall we not rather say, See how the Saviour saved 
him ! Behold what the Saviour made him ! How boundless 
the possibilities now that Jesus has taken him to Himself ! The 
savor of this young life yet gives inspiration. How the peoijle 
love him — the people whom he served so faithfully for years ! 
And the young men who sat at his feet, and all of us who went 
about with him, lo ! these many years, as together we labored 
in the great harvest ! With us he yet remains. He still lives 
among us, though now he sits, as he has ever sat, but now 
nearer the Saviour's feet, an apt learner in the school of the 
Great Teacher, Himself the Truth. On this earth-side we com- 
mingle our tenderest sympathy with this deeply-stricken house- 
hold. But we will not forget that death has given release from 
a suffering body, and introduced the ransomed spirit into the 
11- 



238 THE STORK FAMILY IN THE LUTHERAN CHURCH. 

fullness of the joy of our Lord. Here we kuow in part ; there 
we shall kuow even as also we are known . In every relation of 
life, domestic, social, ecclesiastical, we shall miss him ; but 
where the faded flower shall freshen, where God wipes all tears 
and where they die no more, we shall be with him soon. Fare- 
well, my brother ! 

Dr. F. W. Conrad next presented a sketcli of the life 
and character of the departed. The benediction was pro- 
nounced by Rev. Henry Baker, of Altoona, and the con- 
gregation and friends present were invited to take a 
last look at the face of the departed, whose remains 
were placed in a casket before the pulpit. All availed 
themselves of this sad opportunity. His remains were 
taken to Andover, Mass., for interment with the kindred 
of his wife. 

Among the clergymen present at the funeral, besides 
those already mentioned, were Rev. Dr. M. W. Hamma, 
and Revs. George Scholl and J. A. Clutz, of Baltimore ; 
Rev. Dr. L. E. Albert, of Germantown ; Rev. W. H. 
Steck, of Ardmore; Rev. M. Sheeleigh, of Whitemarsh ; 
Rev. J. H. Harpster, of Trenton, N. J. ; President Julius 
D. Dreher, of Roanoke College, Virginia ; and Revs. S. A. 
Holman, E. Huber, J. H. Menges, J. K. Plitt, S. Laird, 
S. A. K. Francis, and Dr. Henry E. Jacobs, of Philadel- 
phia. Besides the clergymen from Baltimore already 
mentioned, there were also present some twenty lay mem- 
bers of St. Mark's church of that city, which he served 
as pastor for so many years. 

''The memory of the just is blessed." 



REV. CHARLES A. STORK, D. D. 239 

TESTIMONIAL OF THE THEOLOGICAL FACULTY. 
DEATH OF REV. C. A. STORK. 

The news of this sad event reached Gettysburg at an 
early hour on the 18th inst. The exercises of the Theo- 
logical Seminary were at once suspended, and the Faculty 
convened and took the following action : 

Whereas, Our Heavenly Father has been pleased to end the 
protracted sufferings of our dear brother and colleague, Rev. 
Charles A. Stork, J). D., by a peaceful death ; therefore 

Resolved, That it becomes us, who were so intimately associ- 
ated with him in official and social intercourse, devoutly to 
acknowledge our gratitude to God for the privilege we have 
enjoyed in communion with one so learned, genial and loving, 
and to put upon record our deep sense of the loss we have sus- 
tained by his death. 

BesoUed, That we sincerely deplore the loss inflicted, by his 
death, upon our institution, which had learned to prize the labors 
of one with a mind so cultivated and a heart so pure, with such 
a peculiar aptness to teach and power to arouse in others an 
ardor and enthusiasm in the pursuit of knowledge, and to win 
their confidence and affection. 

Resolved, That we sincerely share in the pix)ifound sorrow that 
will be felt throughout the Church in being deprived of the 
labors of one so well qualified to serve all her interests in the 
pulpit, in the professor's chair, and in the religious press. 

Resolved, That we express our hearty condolence with his be- 
reaved family in the desolation which this mysterious dispensa- 
tion of Providence has brought upon them, and with earnest 
prayer we commend them to the grace of Him who is the Father 
of the fatherless and the Husband of the widow. 

The Faculty and students assembled in the Missionary 
Hall at 11 o'clock, and appropriate religious services 
were held. By a rising vote, the above resolutions were 



240 THE STORK FAMILY IN THE LUTHERAN CHURCH. 

silently and solemnly endorsed by all present, amid deep 
feeling. 

Ever since the disease under which our dear brother 
was laboring assumed a seriously threatening form, the 
most lively sympathy was felt and manifested for him 
by all the inmates of the Seminary. He had greatly 
endeared himself to the hearts of all ; and the knowledge 
of his severe and protracted sufferings cast a shade of 
sadness over our daily life. We recently learned that 
he was longing to be released, and our grief at the news 
of his decease is assuaged by the assurance that he has 
passed from a scene of sorrow and pain to a blissful 
home of unmingled and endless joy. H. 

Getfi/sbur(/, December 18, 1888. 

TESTIMONIAL FROM ST. MARK'S. 

The council of St. Mark's English Evangelical Lutheran 
church, of Baltimore, has learned with deep sorrow of 
the death of Rev. Charles A. Stork, D. D., and desiring 
to record its appreciation of our late pastor, adopts the 
following : 

Resolved, That we are mindful of his work and labor of love 
for us, as individuals and as a congregation, and that we recog- 
nize evidence of- his profound Christian teachings in the godly- 
lives of many who, through him, were brought to know the love 
of God in Christ. 

Resolved^ That, in remembrance of his long and faithful service 
among us as pastor, we do set apart Sunday, December 30th, as 
a day for special memorial services. 

Resolved, That we express our deep sympathy with his family, 
and ask for them the benediction " of God, even our Father, 
which has loved us and given us everlasting consolation and 
good hope through grace." 



REV. CHARLES A. STORK, D. D. 241 

EULOGIES ON DR. STORK. 

The Workman of January 3, 1885, says: 

The year of 1883 began darkly witli the death of Rev. Dr. 
Krauth, of the Philadelphia Semiuary, and it was closed with 
the death of Rev. Stork, of the Seminary in Gettysburg. The 
son of the Rev. Dr. Theophilus Stork became the successor of 
his father as pastor of St. Mark's church, Baltimore, and for 
sixteen years gave to it the rich fruitage of his studies, travels, 
and vaiious attainments. Called in 1881 to fill the vacant pro- 
fessorship of Didactic Theology in the Gettysburg Seminary, he 
entered upon a new life of study and toil, and labored assidu- 
ously with the happiest results. But the embarrassment and 
depression of a most distressing affection of the throat was upon 
him, and his labors and services were sadly interrupted by this 
insidious disease. At last, on December ITtli after a surgical 
operation, his strength constantly growing weaker, he calmly 
fell asleep in Christ and in peace. 

Dr. Stork, like many other thoughtful men in this transition 
period, was drawing nearer and nearer to its faith, and coming 
more and more into loving sympathy with its inner life. In this 
respect, also, the loss of one so sincere and devout is all the 
greater to the Seminary and the ingenuous youth who gather 
in its halls. But the truth lives, though its confessors and 
teachers pass away. 

Dr. Mark Hopkins, President of Williams College, 
thus speaks of Dr. Stork in a letter to the editor of the 
Lutheran Observer : 

My remembrance of Dr. Stork as a student is distinct. He 
was a student of books, industrious and faithful, but not merely 
that — he was naturally, and from the first, an original investi- 
gator. He did not reject authority, but made the conclusions of 
others his own only as he saw their ground. This placed him in 
the first rank among students in my studies, and I was not sur- 



242 THE STORK FAMILY IN THE LUTHERAN CHURCH. 

prised at the eminence lie attained and was attaining. His char- 
acter, while at college, was unexceptionable. 

The editor then continues : " The exhibit of character 
given by Dr. Hopkins of Garfield and Stork as students, 
proves that the diligence; perseverance and fidelity of the 
student determine the activity, success and usefulness of 
the man. The following incidents show the intimacy, 
devotion and Christian character, which distinguished Gar- 
field and Stork as college-mates, friends and brothers be- 
loved in the Lord. 

" Dr. Irving Magee, a college-mate of Dr. Stork, told 
our readers at the time of his death, that Garfield was in 
the habit of sitting for hours at the side of Stork, with 
his arms about his neck. After General Garfield became 
a member of Congress, Dr. Stork paid him his first visit, 
which he described, at an interview with Dr. Magee at 
the house of a friend in Baltimore, as follows: 

" By the way, Magee, you remember 'Gar.' I was In Wash- 
ington the other day, and determined to go up to the Capitol to 
see him. I sent my card in to him by a page, and in a moment 
he came out, picked me right up in his arms and embraced me, 
he was so glad to see me. 

"Towards the close of General Garfield's career in 
the House of Representatives, to whose leadership he had 
risen. Dr. Stork visited him at his house, where they 
spent the evening together in conversation on old scenes 
and friends. As it had been their habit to pray with 
each other, at the close of each day in their rooms, Gar- 
field proposed to Stork that, before separating, they should 
unite in prayer as they were wont to do in their college 



REV. CHARLES A. STORK, D. D. 243 

days at Williams, whereupon they knelt down and prayed 
with one accord to that God to whose service they had 
devoted their lives in the days of their youth, and in- 
voked His guidance and blessing upon the work in which 
each was engaged. And while General Garfield was in- 
augurated President of the United States on the 4th of 
March, 1881, Dr. Stork was inaugurated as Professor of 
Theology and Chairman of the Faculty in the Theological 
Seminary at Gettysburg, in September of the same year. 
'•On Easter Monday, 1881, Ave called at the White 
House, and were presented by Dr. Butler to the Presi- 
dent. In passing through Baltimore, Dr. Stork requested 
us to present his congratulations, and to say that as soon 
as the press was over, he would pay him a visit. The 
President in reply said that he recollected Dr. Stork very 
well, and that he would be happy to see him at any time, 
and requested us to present his acknowledgments. But 
before this contemplated visit Avas paid, the President was 
shot, and they never met again since they prayed to- 
gether at the interview described above. They parted 
on earth at the throne of grace, and they have doubtless 
met each other again in heaven, according to the Word 
of God, around the throne of glory." 

COPY OF RESOLUTIONS ON THE DEATH OF DR. STORK, FROM 
REPORT OF BOARD OF FOREIGN MISSIONS TO GENERAL 
SYNOD. 

1. Resolved, That in the death of our sainted brother, Rev. 
Dr. Charles A. Stork, our Board has lost a zealous member, a 
wise counsellor, and a most efficient presiding officer ; the foreign 
mission cause has lost one of its warmest friends and most able 



244 THE STORK FAMILY IN THE LUTHERAN CHURCH. 

pounders and advocates ; and the Church has lost one of her most 
gifted and cultured ministers, a scholar at once profound and 
clear, a theologian who was at once liberal and yet loyal to the 
standards of the Church, a teacher who could not only impart 
instruction to his pupils, but also inspire them with the love of 
the truth, and a preacher of rare spiritual insight and power, 
and who was able, beyond most men, to rightly divide the word 
of truth, 

2. Resolved, That we bow in humble and trustful submission 
to the divine will, as revealed in this sore bereavement, know- 
ing that God's ways are always wise and good, and assured that 
our loss is our brother's gain. 

8. Resolved, That we will ever cherish the memory of our de- 
parted brother's virtues and graces as a most precious legacy 
and will seek to emulate his noble disposition, his deep and earn- 
est piety, his broad catholicity of spirit, his generous interest in 
every good cause, his thorough consecration of heart and life, and 
his untiring activity in the Master's service, believing that we 
will thus most honor him and best glorify God. 

4. Resolved, That as a testimony of our esteem for the de- 
ceased these resolutions be adopted by a rising vote, and that a 
copy of the same be spread upon the minutes of the General 
Synod. . 

FROM REV. DR. CONRAD, OF THE LUTHERAN OBSERVER. 

Dr. Stork was endowed Aviih rare natural talents, and 
received a thorough literary and theological education. 
His thirst for knowledge impelled him to make full proof 
of his ministry by reading and diligence in study. Giving 
special attention to exegesis and theology, he did not, 
however, limit his researches to their respective bounda- 
ries, but extended his inquiries to other departments of 
knowledge. He kept pace Avith the progress of science, 
was well read in history and general literature, was a 
master in Greek, and well versed in philosophy. His 



245 

mind was one of peculiar mould, and his gifts distinguished 
by great excellencies. He had clear apprehensions of 
truth, and a remarkable facility, terseness, simplicity and 
beauty of expression. He was also gifted Avith a pro- 
found spiritual insight into the mind of the Spirit as ex- 
pressed in the Scriptures, and had the happy faculty of 
bringing out the hidden meaning of the Word by apt and 
striking illustrations. He was also possessed of fine liter- 
ary taste, a good memory, and great fluency of speech. 
These varied attainments he exhibited both in his writings 
and in his sermons in the pulpit. 

As a writer. Dr. Stork was distinguished by his purity 
of style, richness of illustration, and spiritual unction. 
His articles published in the Observer and the Quarterly 
Review have placed him in the front rank of our literary 
men. As a preacher, he brought out of the Scriptures 
"things old," clothed them in new forms of expression, 
and invested them with peculiar freshness and force. 
Thoroughly acquainted with his people, he discussed sub- 
jects adapted to their wants, and kept back nothing that 
was profitable unto them. While he made careful pre- 
paration, he did not read his discourses, but delivered 
them in a clear style and in an easy and natural manner. 

In person Dr. Stork was of medium height, and of a 
phlegmatic temperament, easy and natural in his manner, 
and undemonstrative in his bearing. While he was re- 
served and unobtrusive in society, he was, nevertheless, 
a genial and pleasant companion. In his intercourse with 
his brethren he was modest, kind and considerate. In 
his pastoral relations he was peculiarly happy. He 



246 THE STORK FAMILY IN THE LUTHERAN CHURCH. 

moved among his parishioners as a spiritual father, 
intimate friend and wise counsellor, and was cherished 
bj them with peculiar tenderness and affection. His de- 
voted pietj, pastoral fidelity and pulpit ability, were de- 
monstrated in the numerical increase, the spiritual pro- 
gress, and the Christian liberality and activity of St. 
Mark's church, to which he ministered for nearly twenty 
years. Its members are his epistles, who ''remember 
the words which he spake unto them while he was yet 
with them," and will cherish his memory in their heart 
of hearts to the last day of their lives. But his influence 
was not confined to his own congregation. He took a 
lively interest in every good work in the city. As a 
member of the Board of Foreign Missions, and more 
recently as its president and the editor of the foreign 
department of the Missionary Journal^ he rendered 
valuable service, and exerted an extensive influence. 

As a professor. Dr. Stork's labors were of short 
duration ; the intervention of war compelled him to vacate 
the chair of Greek at Newberry, and the inroads of dis- 
ease cut short his theological labors in the Seminary. 
His instructions in both institutions were, nevertheless, 
sufficient to establish his theological ability and aptness 
to teach, and to give the assurance that, if he had been 
permitted to continue at his post, his success in the 
professor's chair would have equaled that which he 
achieved in the pulpit. 

God's dealings with our theological seminaries in the 
East are strikingly significant, and call for serious reflec- 
tion. Just four years ago. Dr. J. A. Brown, the pre- 



KEV. CHARLES A. STORK, D. D. 247 

decessor of Dr. Stork in the Seminary at Gettysburg, 
was made speechless by a stroke of aphasia, and a little 
less than two years ago he was laid to rest at Lancaster, 
in his native county. A short time before, Dr. C. F. 
Schaeffer, Professor in the Philadelphia Seminary, was 
called from his labors on earth ; and less than a year 
ago, Dr. C. P. Krauth, Professor of Theology in the 
same institution, was stricken down in the zenith of his 
intellectual powers. And scarce a year had passed after 
Dr. Stork commenced this theological work at Gettys- 
burg, when he was disabled by disease, and now the 
church is called on to mourn his departure from earth. 
But one of these distino-uished theoloo;ians had reached 
the period allotted to man ; three of them died in the 
midst of their labors, and in the very prime of life. In 
view of these inscrutable providences of God, we are con- 
strained to exclaim: " How unsearchable are His judg- 
ments, and His ways past finding out 1" 

Our relations with Dr. Stork were of the most intimate 
character. Our intimacy began more than twenty years 
ago and continued until the day of his death. Our asso- 
ciation with his father, as associate editor of the Observer^ 
both in Baltimore and Philadelphia, brought us frequently 
together, and gave us opportunity of knowing him well, 
and constantly strengthened our esteem and affection for 
him. We felt towards him more like a father, and mourn 
him, as far as that is possible, not only as a brother be- 
loved, but also as a son. We regarded him personally 
as one of the excellent of the earth ; intellectually, as an 
original thinker, an accomplished scholar and polished 



248 THE STORK FAMILY IN THE LUTHERAN CHURCH. 

writer; and ecclesiastically, as one of the most effective 
preachers and ablest theologians in the Lutheran church 
of this country. If to any one can be justly applied the 
inspiring declaration of the prophet Daniel, it can be to 
him : " They that be wise shall shine as the brightness 
of the firmament ; and they that turn many to righteous- 
ness, as the stars forever and ever." 

DR. STORK AS A THEOLOGIAN, BY REV. DR. VALENTINE. 

Theological Seminary, 
Gettysburg, Pa., April 30, 1885. 
Rev. J. G. M. — Dear Doctor: You have asked me for a word 
concerning Dr. Stork as a theologian. I comply with your re- 
quest the more willingly because of the possibility that his other 
intellectual and spiritual excellencies may draw away attention 
unfairly from what is due him in this relation. Undoubtedly 
liis fine intellectuality, general culture, and Christian consecra- 
tion and earnestness, formed his most noticeable features as he 
was recognized when living and is now remembered by the 
Church. It was by these that he attracted the Church's atten- 
tion, and won the wide admiration and love with which he is 
regarded. Most of the productions of his facile pen, whether in 
The Lutheran Quarterly or elsewhere, dealt with the living ques- 
tions in the speculative and practical inquiry of the day. Few 
men were more thoroughly abreast with the knowledge and 
thought of the times, or more competent to give a discriminating 
judgment as to their bearings. His discriminating clearness, 
the subtlety of his analytic power, the freshness of his way of 
presenting and illustrating truth, all brightened by the play of 
a rich but delicate imagination, made all his discussions delight- 
ful and instructive to intelligent and cultured readers. But 
those who best knew Dr. Stork, knew that his theological at- 
tainments were of high order. It would have been almost im- 
possible for one gifted as he was, with such varied knowledge 
in history, literature and metaphysics, and so keenly interested 



REV. CHARLES A. STORK, D. D. 249 

in all the highest truth that has heen engaging Christian think- 
ers, to fail to do fair and thorough work in distinctly theological 
study. But his theological habit was not that which often as- 
sumes to make the theologian. His Christian spirit was too 
living and earnest to be satisfied to reduce theology to the tech- 
nicalities that are learned by rote and perpetuated by authority 
out of the scholasticisms of the past. He was, indeed, well 
versed in the history of doctrines, and in the theological discus- 
sions through which the doctrines have been shaped in dogmat- 
ics. But his earnest spirit was more concerned with the sub- 
stance of truth than with its forms. To him theology was much 
more than tlie simple mastery of the dogmatician's definitions 
and formalae and rounded system, put into the mind by a sort 
of mechanical transfer, and coldly kept in the memory. To him 
it was the living knowledge of God — not wanting, indeed, in 
systematic accuracy, but fused by the fervor of his soul into the 
practical aims of redemption and life. With all his intellectu- 
ality he illustrated the old maxim : Pectus facit theologum. 

Though so full of the earnest living preseut, Dr. Stork was by 
no means disposed to break with the past, as so many do, or to 
vaunt the knowledge of this age, as if the theology of earlier 
centuries were of little or no account. He was at once conser- 
vative and progressive ; and few men recognized more fully than 
he how firmly and grandly all the great doctrines of God and 
redemption, as formulated in the orthodox faith of the Church, 
have stood all ordeals, and are but growing stronger in their 
victories. Those who remember his essay on Liturgical Forms 
in Worship, at the Lutheran Diet in 1877, will need no other 
evidence of his strong grasp upon the principle of the continu- 
ity of theology and church-life. He showed in theology the same 
intellectual characteristics which marked him in the other rela- 
tions — wide range of view and observation, cautious and subtle 
analysis, and sound discrimination. This close analytic discrim- 
ination is well illustrated in his review of Newman on Justifica- 
tion. 

Our interest in Dr. Stork as a theologian is mainly coucerned 
with relation to Lutheran theology. His reception of theo- 



250 THE STORK FAMILY IN THE LUTHERAN CHURCH. 

logical training in a non- Lutheran institution did not alienate 
his love from his Church or her theology. There was a natural 
affinity between his deep pietistic temper and the theology of his 
Church. Both the thoroughness of his intellectual habit and 
the helping influence of his practical ministry, led him into 
strong attachment to the system of truth found in her com- 
munion. Those who recall his discussion, some years ago, of 
the subject of ministers changing their ecclesiastical relations, 
will have no doubt of the strength with which his convictions 
had made the Lutheran system of theology his own. And while 
he troubled himself comparatively little with the dry and rigid 
definitions and old phrases of the scholastic dogmaticians, his 
theology laid hold of all they sought after. It was one feature 
of the service he was rendering in the Seminary, that instead of 
fixing, by mechanical drill, the old technicalities in the minds 
of the students, he was translating the Lutheran theology, in its 
profoundest essence and life, into the forms of thought and 
speech of the living present. 

Yours most fraternally, M. Valentine. 



A SANCTIFIED SOUL. 

That Dr. Stork was a man of extraordinarj excellence 
was never questioned bj any one who was intimately 
associated with him in life. His supereminence was so 
patent that it never awakened the envy of those who 
stood nearest to him. You might long to reach the sun- 
lit altitude in which his lofty spirit was calmly moving, 
but you could not expect soon to rise to such a height, 
much less think of dragging him down to the common 
level by base disparagement. 

It was especially a pure, exalted and fervent spiritu- 
ality that distinguished this dear brother. He was a 
holy man. His life was hid with Christ in God. I never 



REV. CHARLES A. STORK, D. D. 251 

sustained close personal relations to any one else who to 
my mind possessed so large a measure of the spirit of 
Christ, and so near an approximation to Him. 

His society was sure to be an inspiration to one's 
heart, just as it proved a never-failing stimulant to one's 
mind. My greatest regret on leaving the pastorate in 
Baltimore, was the consciousness of what I was losing in 
separating from one whose intense spiritual influence I 
had so often felt. When at a later period I was again 
to have the privilege of being daily associated with him 
in the Theological Seminary, I welcomed him particularly 
in view of the godly aroma which his presence here 
would be sure to diffuse. To be an hour with him was 
to be carried away from sensuous and sordid objects, and 
to be lifted to the enjoyment of divine and erternal things. 
In an experience of twenty years of intimate friendship 
I never detected in him a selfish thought, or had the 
faintest reason to suspect an unworthy aim, an interested 
motive, or a vindictive feeling. He never sought his 
own, never seemed to have a thought of himself, of his 
superior gifts, or of any personal advantage. He never 
manifested a spark of what is called ambition. Honor, 
popularity, crowds, were nothing to him. He was a 
stranger, apparently, to the peculiar temptations of the 
ministry. He was an Israelite in whom there was no 
guile. 

It was the divine power in his soul that made him the 
model of a successful pastor. Nature had not endowed 
him with those peculiar social qualities which prove so 



252 THE STORK FAMILY IN THE LUTHERAN CHtJRCH. 

helpful in pastoral ministrations among all classes, but he 
had the wisdom from above which inspires men with tact 
and adaptation ; he bore his people priest-like upon his 
heart, as every one felt on hearing him offer his inimitable 
prayers ; and his conscience withal gave him the courage 
both to tell every man his whole duty, and to minister to 
every needy soul, even at the risk of fatal contagion. 

It was largely the riches of his spiritual resources that 
left him without a peer in the Lutheran pulpit. In his 
preaching he knew nothing but Jesus and Him crucified. 
Though he had enjoyed a wider and perhaps a deeper 
range of reading than any of us, his pulpit was too sacred 
to be converted into a show-window for the display of his 
learning. The effect of all his striking illustrations, his 
brilliant thought and tender pathos, was to make his 
audience see "Jesus only." Who that listened to his 
sermons on " Christ died for our sins according to the 
scriptures," " I beheld, and lo, in the midst of the throne 
. . . stood a lamb as it had been slain," " Show us the 
Father," "Lead me to the rock that is higher than I," 
could fail to have his heart fired with the love of Jesus, 
and to feel strengthened with might in the inner man ? 
When, occasionally, in Baltimore, the opportunity was 
given me of hearing other men preach, I would some- 
times go to hear Dr. G's eloquence, Dr. J's originality, 
or Dr. M's metaphysics ; but w^hen I craved spiritual 
nourishment I always went to St. Mark's, and invariably 
found a gospel feast. I do not, indeed, recollect having 
ever gone elsewhere when I had the privilege of hearing 
Dr. Stork. 



REV. CHARLES A. STORK, D. D. 253 

From his abiding devotion to his Lord sprung also his 
inflexible loyalty to the Lutheran church. Having grown 
up at a period when secession from his mother church 
had become a fashion, and having received his entire 
classical and theological training in New England, it 
would have been little short of a miracle for him to have 
felt any special attachment to a denomination which to 
the eye of sense at that time presented such an uninviting 
contrast to the dominant churches of tlie country. I 
knew Dr. Stork when he would have sacrificed no doc- 
trinal conviction, no affection, and no taste, in changing 
his ecclesiastical relations. He made no secret of the 
fact that he knew the full force of the temptations which 
have lured ministers away from the Lutheran pulpits. 
At that time his support was $1,500 per year, of which 
$500 had to be paid for the rent of a small and -indifferent 
house. He could have readily commanded in other com- 
munions a salary five or eight times that amount, and might 
have preached to crowds of cultured people in Boston, New 
York or Philadelphia ; but how often was he heard to re- 
mark : " The arguments for leaving the Lutheran church 
are from below, not from above." Every move of that 
kind he considered a move to the rear, where it required 
less nerve and smaller sacrifices to be a soldier. "Christ," 
he would say, " came not to be ministered unto, but to min- 
ister;" why should His servant seek to be above Him, 
and lay down the cross which the Master gave him. The 
Lutheran church had need of him, and Providence had 
cast his lot in her pale ; this left the path of duty unmis- 
takable — and of other paths his heart knew nothing. 
12 



254 THE STORK FAMILY IN THE LUTHERAN CHURCH. 

His nearness w God, finally, made him the type of 
a Lutheran theologian. For dogmatics, as commonly 
understood and taught, he had no predilections. And 
on accepting the call to the Seminary, his mental tastes 
would have chosen other branches. The Calvinistic sys- 
tem which he had learned at Andover was repugnant to 
his whole nature, and the manner in which Lutheran 
divines were contending about creeds and forms of doc- 
trine gave him at first hardly a better view of Lutheran 
theology. As for making cast-iron formulas out of the 
living verities of salvation, such attempts seemed to him 
equivalent to stifling the truth. But he came in the 
course of his development to see that Lutheran dogmatics 
are essentially but the clear and irrefutable answer to the 
sinner's cry, "What must I do to be saved?" the lucid 
exhibition of the fulness of divine grace, which through 
the church is steadily dispensed to believers. The Christ 
who was all and in all to him, he found, is the centre 
around which the Lutheran system revolves, and in every 
radiation from that centre he recognized a ray from the 
Sun of Righteousness. Thus the heavenly leaven pene- 
trated all his thinking, as well as all his activities. 
Every fruit of the Spirit, " goodness, righteousness and 
truth" as well as " love, joy and peace," had its healthy, 
rounded growth in him. ***** 

What a fitting close to his earthly career that the last 
product of his fertile pen should have been that article 
on "The Growing Life," called forth, it may be re- 
marked, by a request from the writer, who thought that 
some utterances on that theme from him, when so near 



REV. CHARLES A. STORK, D. D. 255 

the gate of heaven, would offer the most precious per- 
fume with which to embalm his own blessed life in our 
hearts. 

Farewell, thou gentle, pure and consecrated soul! 
Hadst thou not been so ripe, God might have spared 
thee a little longer to us. Our tears are not for thee, 
but for ourselves. And no grief of ours shall ever efface 
our gratitude to God for having cast our lot within the 
shadow of thy life, and for having brought us under the 
sound of thy sermons and prayers, and within the hallow- 
ing circle of thy personal influence. 

MI^'UTE ON THE DEATH OF DR. C. A. STORK, 

ADOPTED BY THE BOARD OF THE THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY OF 
THE GENERAL SYNOD AT GETTYSBURG. 

The Rev. Charles A. Stork, D. D., was third of the 
name in the ministry of the Lutheran Church in this 
country. His father. Rev. Theophilus Stork, D. D., oc- 
cupied a prominent position for a number of years, in 
which he attained great usefulness, and died universally 
beloved and lamented. His grandfather, Rev. Charles 
Augustus Stork (Storch) was noted for great activity, 
fervent piety, and abundant labors for Christ. 

Thus worthily descended. Dr. Stork added new lustre 
to the honored name of his fathers. He was richly en- 
dowed with those grand qualities of mind and heart, 
which form the basis of a noble character and a useful 
life. To these were added the strength and finish which 
close application and loving service yield. Thus equipped, 
he entered the field to which Providence so clearly di- 



256 THE STORK FAMILY IN THE LUTHERAN CHURCH. 

rected him with every prospect of success. In this there 
was no disappointment, save such only as was occasioned 
by physical weakness and premature exhaustion. His 
preparation and furnishing for the high position in which 
he closed his active and useful life were singularly happy 
and complete. His methods of study and address quali- 
fied him for great acceptability in the pulpit, on the floor 
of synod, and in the professor's chair. His strong grasp 
of mind, unswerving fidelity to the truth and to the sym- 
bols of his Church, in which he found that truth so clearly 
stated, and his reputation for general scholarship, pointed 
him out very prominently as the fitting successor of Drs. 
Schmucker, Krautli and Brown, in the faculty of this 
Theological Seminary. His service, though cut short by 
early decline and death, was most satisfactory and bene- 
ficial. His clear and positive convictions, flowing through 
the channel of a tender sympathy and unassumed afiec- 
tion, were calculated to exert a happy influence upon his 
colleagues and pupils. His removal after great bodily 
suff"ering, in which God's grace grandly triumphed, was 
accepted by the Church with becoming submission, but 
with deepest grief and lasting regret. 

As an expression of our feelings upon this sad be- 
reavement, we suojorest the followino; action : 

Resolved, That we hereby place upon record our sincere grati- 
tude to Almighty God for bestowing upon this cherished Insti- 
tution the efficient services of one so eminently qualified for the 
position, and also our high appreciation of the ability, faithful- 
ness and zeal with which, ofttimes under great physical prostra- 
tion, our late lamented friend and brother discharged his arduous 
and responsible duties. 



REV. CHARLES A. STORK, D. D. 257 

Resolved, That we anew recognize and acknowledge the claims 
upon ourselves and the Church we represent, of an Institution 
which has been sustained and nurtured by the life -labors of so 
many devoted and faithful teachers. 

Resolved, That a copy of this minute, with an expression of 
our Christian sympathy and condolence, be transmitted by the 
officers of this Board to the family of the deceased. 

A FEEBLE TRIBUTE TO A SAINTLY SOUL. 
EEV. JOS. H, BARCLAY, D. D. 

A saintly soul has entered into rest. " After life's fit- 
ful fever, our brother sleeps well." The learned men 
and great doctors of the Church have offered their tribute. 
Surely one who was associated intimately with ten years 
of his pastoral life may offer a feeble utterance at the 
shrine of the John whom he loved. Dr. Stork was the 
John of our modern Lutheran Church — a man who, if he 
sometimes felt to call down the fire of heaven on those 
who abused her, was himself so true, so devoted, so con- 
sistent, so loving, that his blows were sweeter than some 
men's kisses ; and no living man, however much he 
questioned his views, ever doubted for one second his 
sterling integrity and rectitude of life and purpose. 

On this man's scholarship and rare intellectual endow- 
Tuents, it will be better for the readers of this article to 
hear the voice of the leaders of our Church. They are 
most competent for the work — that is, if Elijah's mantle 
can be found on any living Elisha. The writer's privi- 
lege is not to write of schools and schoolmen, but of the 
Christly character of a God-endowed man, who always 
bore the sign and patent of his Christian nobility about 

him. 

13* 



258 THE STORK FAMILY IN THE LUTHERAN CHURCH. 

Dr. Stork was such a plain, unostentatious man that 
the world and myriads in the Church who crave signs 
and love glitter instead of gold did not appreciate him. 
He did not draw crowds to his ministry; he did not pub- 
lish books ; he did not shine in mixed assemblies ; he did 
not preach grand sermons and thrill listening multitudes ; 
sometimes he was lethargic, even careless ; occasionally 
needed stirring ; but take him all in all, he ranks in the 
front, with the sweet, pure, saintly, and imperial souls 
that have helped the w^orld to higher conception of life 
by having lived in the world. lie was among the men 
meant by Webster, the statesman, when he said that for 
successful men, however crowded the loT^er plains, there 
was plenty of room at the' top. And on the summit he 
stood, as scholar, as theologian, as philosopher, as 
preacher, pastor, and personal friend. It is exceptional 
for sons to equal a very able father — more rare for sons 
to surpass their fathers ; yet Dr. Stork, the son, was a 
much stronger man than his father, and the latter was 
among the great leaders of our beloved faith. 

In no one feature of his ministerial life do we remem- 
ber our brother so well as in our Monday morning minis- 
terial meetings in Baltimore. During ten years of the 
writer's pastoral life in Baltimore we met together. We 
had no stiff formal meetings, and rarely a set theme ; we 
simply met and talked of Christ, and the Church, and our 
work. Here Dr. Stork shone as the world and hosts of 
the church did not know him. Conversant with books 
and men, possessing rare philosophical insight, he unrav- 
elled the tangled threads of theological controversy, and 



REV. CHARLES A. STORK, D. D. 269 

infused into the most abstruse subjects a sweet, personal, 
religious power that made his utterances like apples of 
gold in frame-work of silver. His thoughts weighed ; 
his ideas convinced ; his theology convicted ; his church 
love overwhelmed. He was our leader. A small man in 
physique, a veritable giant in discussion; a quiet man in 
manner, a Boanerges in ideas ; exceedingly modest and 
diffident, as if only giving utterance to the most trite and 
common-place thoughts, and yet breathing forth a richness 
of thought that carried conviction with every sentence. 

As a personal friend, without ostentation, never loud, 
utterly devoid of pretension, plain-spoken, never bitter, 
concise in words, careful in judgment, clear as sunbeams, 
open as light, true to the core. 

As a preacher, calm, scholarly, pungent, original in 
manner and matter, always fresh, powerful, and at times 
actually sublime. As Mr. Moody, the evangelist, said 
of him, "the grandest preacher in Baltimore;" hut 
Baltimore didri't knoiv it. Others who had not brains, 
but brass, and lived by puffing, gathered crowds ; he 
never did ; but his true monument is in the true souls he 
gathered into St. Mark's, the best working church of the 
Lutheran faith in the Monumental City. 

As a scholar and theologian, let those speak who are 
most competent. If Dr. Stork had his superior among 
us, we should be glad to Tinow the name. 

As a churchman, he was as true as in his friendship; 
he was a thorough Lutheran, and believed, heart and 
soul, in the doctrines and usages of our church. He had 
no sympathy with imitation of other denominations. He 



260 THE STORK FAMILY IN THE LUTHERAN CHURCH. 

knew that the Lutheran church, doctrinally, was sound. 
He knew that her usages were among the best. He 
stood by the old ways, and walked in them, and was a 
leader for others who halted, or trembled, or aimed for 
new paths. 

We have said that Dr. Stork wrote no books. In one 
respect this is unfortunate. It was the custom annually 
in Baltimore for several of the pastors to hold meetings 
in the various churches, and alternately lecture on themes 
relating to the Lutheran church. Dr. Stork always led, 
and lectured from notes. Who among us will not regret 
that no copies exist of these lectures, especially among 
the last, his masterly exposition of Lutheranism vs. Puri- 
tanism? This was not the precise title, but the subject 
matter. 

Our beloved disciple is dead, but he lives in the mem- 
ory of his people, of his brethren in the ministry, of his 
students. This death is a greater loss than many realize. 
We sadly lack leaders in our church to-day. Neverthe- 
less, though the workmen die, the work must go on. 
God's cause has never been without faithful, true, and 
able witnesses, in all ages of the world. 

HIS FUGITIVE WRITINGS. 

A literary friend writes : " In regard to his writings, 
I can mention a few interesting details. I remember one 
or two things he wrote for the New York Independent. 
One was some short verses as a parody of the hymn, ' 0, 
to be brethren ;' the refrain to which was, ' Oh, to be 
something.' It was intended as a rebuke in a pleasant 
way of certain errors of Christian teaching, as he thought. 



REV. CHARLES A. STORK, D. D. 261 

Some notices of theological books, written by him for 
the Lutheran Observer^ attracted the attention of the 
editor of The Independent (N. Y.) He received in 
consequence a theological work from that paper for 
review. He also wrote for The Independent some other 
articles. 

He also wrote for The Home Monthly^ his father's 
last journalistic enterprise. He also had the usual 
leaning to poetry and fiction common to young men of 
literary taste. There was, I believe, a blank verse 
tragedy attempted. 

You know that he contributed numerous articles to 
various journals and church papers, some of which have 
been republished in a neat volume and which has received 
deserved commendation from competent critics. There 
is much more material that should be gathered and pub- 
lished in book form, for he was, undoubtedly, one of the 
most polished, thoughtful and forcible writers our church 
has ever had in this country. The article on Bishop 
Butler, in the Lutheran Quarterly ^ always struck me 
as in his best vein. Indeed all his Review articles display 
the man of genius, learning, taste and piety. 

FROM A STUDENT. 

It was my privilege to be for a few raontlis, during the winter 
of 1882-3. under Dr. Stork's instruction. At that time the dis- 
ease which caused his death was beginning to cause increasing 
trouble, and his work was constantly interrupted. The lectures 
he gave my class were on theology. The science was just being 
opened up to us when Dr. Stork was compelled to lay aside his 
pen. In these lectures the same clearness of expression, felicity 
of illustration and depth of original thought were observable 



262 THE STORK FAMILY IN THE LUTHERAN CHURCFI. 

that so eminently characterized his sermons and addresses. A 
wide acquaintance with tlie subject made his manner easy and 
forcible, and the lectures were delivered from copious notes, 
never read. The main points were dictated, and then, branch- 
ing out in explanation and application, all tiie range of his ex- 
tensive and complete knowledge was brought into play, making 
up a most fascinating exposition of even the deepest and most 
complex truths. None could listen to him without being im- 
pressed with the deep earnestness and desire to instruct that 
marked him. Gentle and patient to the dull student, he ever 
strove to bring out all that was in a man, and yet insisted on 
every lecture being prepared for recitation by his class in the 
most perfect manner possible. Well does my class recall one 
occasion, when, for some cause or other, the preparation not be- 
ing what it should have been. Dr. Stork said: ''Gentlemen, 
you must take this lecture for the next time, and I want it pre- 
pared correctly." In the Greek recitations which he conducted 
with all the students, the translation of the New Testament, 
many a hard point was made clear by his explanations ; and in 
the rhetorical exercises, while he often criticised severely the 
oratorical flights of some ambitious student, he ever found some- 
thing to praise, and never gave oftense to even the most fastidi- 
ous. When a debate was given on some assigned topic, after it 
was finished he took up each speaker's arguments, and showed 
the falsity and incorrectness, or the sharpness and application 
of each, then summing up the whole, he presented it in such a 
way that we never forgot it. His influence on those with whom 
he came in contact was always for good, and no one met him 
without feeling that he was in the presence of a master mind. 
Quiet, unobtrusive, retiring, he was a very model of a scholar, 
whose life, though short, will be recalled with grateful memory 
by those who had the opportunity of meeting and knowing him. 

Thus I close the brief narrative of this remarkable 
man's career. A much larger volume might have been 
filled with the story of his life, but I was compelled to 
yield to an authority that could not be resisted, and it 



REV. CHAKLES A. STORK, D. D. 263 

has necessarily been confined to these moderate dimen- 
sions. 

The partiality of friends may often exaggerate in their 
estimate of those of whom they write or speak, and the 
reader may kindly make all allowance for personal prefer- 
ence while doubting the statement, but there is no differ 
ence of opinion in exalted estimate of the character of 
Dr. Stork. All who have ever known him agree in 
awarding to him the highest style of intellect, the most 
varied and extensive acquirements, and the most profound 
piety. 

All sincerely deplored his early departure and mourned 
that our Lutheran Church should be deprived of his use- 
ful service and the world of his faultless example. 

Ille extinetus amahitur. 



rB 



\.) <7' 



